After center mounting my Warthog in my cockpit, I noticed it was ingesting a lot of debris in addition to the normal diet of dust it usually fed on.

After my last rebuild with heavy damping grease (Nyogel 767a, fantastic stuff) I didn't want it gunking up so quick, but the stock Warthog has an open top enclosure design that allows it to freely ingest dust and debris, accelerating its tendency to need to be opened up and regreased periodically.

I found everything from cracker crumbs to pocket lint to cat hair inside mine the last time I rebuilt it after it developed the dreaded 'sticktion', however a simple plastic disc of the right dimensions can mitigate most of the cumulative buildup.

The OD is the same as the raised circle on top of the base, 2.125" (53.9mm), and at .900" (22.8mm), the ID is just big enough to allow it to stay flay while the stick is moved +/-20deg, but not big enough to let anything get in there.

The disc has a slit in it and just slips over the shaft at the top of the base, and although only .012" (.3mm) thick the ones I make out of mylar are incredibly tough. Although distorted badly, my friend was not able to rip one apart with his bare hands and he's a strong fellow.

I machined a punch/die set to cut clean circles that are concentric, although my first ones were just cut with scissors and looked pretty ugly but will work quite well. As long as you can cut a precise .900 (>7/8") hole out of a suitable plastic it will be good but if the ID is sloppy or too small it won't stay flat and may bind.

If you see the value in precision cut ready-made units, the ones I make out of black mylar are available for $4.00 including USA shipping, or $5.00 international. I'm going to set up a site with a paypal link soon, but in the meantime if anyone is interested they can just pm me.

Wholesale inquiries welcome.

Thanks Troll. My original ones I hand cut with scissors had larger OD but I didn't like the overall appearance. It would be easy for me to make a larger diameter OD custom one for you if you like, it's the ID that's finicky.

I find sticks spend 99% of their life basically upright so it entered the zone of diminishing returns from an aesthetic standpoint to go bigger, and the times there's enough deflection to let stuff in tend not to be when I'm eating a Nature's Valley granola bar :p

A full boot is indeed a great choice, but in my cockpit adventures I tend to swap components around often and would be undoing and redoing zipties more than I care too, hence the simple disc.

However, maybe as a followup I will come up with an ultrasuede boot with minimized proportions just for Warty's. This is something I've been considering before this, because I'm also working on replacement gimbals/bases for Warthogs which could use a boot, especially when I get to cam versions (currently working on rocker arm type like CH Products/VKB). I'll be posting about these soon, but here's a few links to some pics if you are curious now.

http://imgur.com/wrBr8Op (dual mechanisms -optional for high mass grip/stick extension)
http://imgur.com/fKd9puJ (will be in similar enclosure, stock part for scale)
http://imgur.com/3BbQc6T (TM's setup of the mx90333 sensor req odd gimbals architecture)

I bought a couple off of Locnar, I can say they are very neat and effective.
Definitely protect my Warthog from dust while it's sitting there doing nothing.

On his advice in a separate thread, I've also re-greased the ball with nyegol.

Stick has never been better

LocNar, are you still making these? A few guys over the BMS forums are trying to get in contact with you.