ThrustMaster A10C Warthog

[OI812]

You guys need to check out CH Product's Fighterstick and Pro Throttle HOTAS system.  The absolute best in the market, and built like tanks.

Gotta agree.  To go off of what was said in the review, CH stuff is a great middle ground:

awesome build quality, yet still made of plastic (rock solid plastic though - no creaks or flex)

very fast action on the switches and hats

also, not nearly as expensive as the Warthog

[MooseCheese]

Since 6DOF games are popping up now left and right, I have to say the x55 rhino is just a better value in general(regardless of price). This stick looks awesome and whatnot but it lacks the 2nd analog stick that makes the x55 better IMHO as an all-around gaming joystick. For the A10C simulator game? this is pure perfect, but then again its very expensive to buy purpose built hardware for 1 game.

 

Thrustmaster's Cougar (the Warthog's predecessor), modified with the Uber2Nxt gimbals and hall sensors is the holy grail of desktop joysticks. The X and Y axes are remarkably even more precise, fluid and stiff (if you keep the original springs) than those on the Thrustmaster Warthog. A slight modification was made to the real world A-10C's stick over the F-16's (Blk 25 plus), and that was the removal of the lever. The Thrustmaster Warthog does have a lever, but it's removable; nevertheless, it has a longer travel distance and although less realistic, feels nicer than the one on the Thrustmaster Cougar.

 

The A-10C's throttle system lacks a great deal of vesatility by virute of the A-10 lacking a radar; the absence of an antenna elevation axis makes it close to unusable when trying to be competitive BVR in either Falcon BMS or the Vertical Reality Simulations F/A-18E and TacPack for FSX. You're quite right in saying that the Rhino's throttle is more versatile by virtue of its extra axes. That being said, the stick itself (I assume inspired by the of the F/A-18E, which is known colloquialy to its pilots as the Rhino), isn't at all ergonomic. I don't know if you've played much DCS A-10C or Falcon BMS, but it's impossible to be as quick in configuring your aircraft or to trim it nearly as accurately due to every button placement at the top of the stick being, and there is no other way to put this, wrong. I did try it at a friends house, and couldn't stand the following when it's configured for an A-10C:

 

• Both DMS and trim are offset far too far to the right, straining the thumb
• The DMS protrudes whilst the trim is recessed meaning you have to lift your palm off the shaft of the stick to trim (unaugmented trim is already inaccurate in any flight simulator since you lack the feedback of a real aircraft)
• The master mode switch is completely out of alignment with your index finger, making a quick switch difficult
• What should act as CMS in an A-10C (or A/A master mode in an F/A-18) is not a four way button, but a simple push button; this is a big absence in an A-10 and makes flying wild weasel with friends even more difficult.

I'm sure it's a decent stick when you get used to it, but it really didn't do it for me.

 

Kind regards,

 

Charlie

[peanutsrevenge]

No twist = No go for me.

[TheLazyGrizzly]

Ehm the Thrustmaster Warthog A10C only cost €320 here in denmark, you canadians are getting ripped off.

[savstars]

Is anyone still using this in Star Citizen?  Yes I know it has been 5 1/2 years since this video went out.