Suggested flight sticks?

[tynin]

Hi, I'm hoping some of you can suggest some good flight sticks to buy for this game? I'm not sure what would be supported out of the box. I'm running Windows 7 64bit. Thanks for the advice!

[AzureWX]

Most flight sticks work out of the box with Flight. I'm using a $20 stick from Walmart that is working wonderfully (Saitek ST290), and you can probably find that one in your local box store. Generally you want something that can twist for rudder and has at least one slider for throttle.

A note if you go the 360 controller route: the wired controllers are plug & play with PCs, but if you want to use the wireless 360 controller, you will also need this. The Play & Charge cable does not allow you to use a wireless controller on the PC.

[bpsanborn]

Invest in a good quality joystick. The good ones like CH don't drift back and forth in the center and have a light feel. Many of the other joysticks are very tall and heavily sprung. The base will lift right off your table with any big movements. You will want pedals soon after if you plan on being a real flyer.

[ScruffyDuck]

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Has a twist axis for the rudder. Works well for me

Jon
ScruffyDuck Software
Microsoft MVP

[nastykermit]

Originally Posted by ScruffyDuck

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Has a twist axis for the rudder. Works well for me

Jon
ScruffyDuck Software
Microsoft MVP

I use this one too. Very good!

[lgrochal]

First: You want a joystick. You really do. Yes, you can play with mouse, or a gamepad or even with your keyboard, but if you want to know what Flight (or any other flight simulator) is about, you'll want a joystick.

Second: Are you serious about MS Flight? How about other flight simulators? If you feel that's the game (or the genre) for you, go buy yourself something good. Like an X52 Pro Flight or a Yoke System, with pedals and such. You'll spend anywhere between $100 and $400.

If, on the other hand, you're not yet sure you like flight simulators, buy something cheap, for $50 or less. A Saitek Aviator PC/PS3 will do. You'll want something with a stick that can be twisted left/right (that's poor man's rudder pedals) and a throttle lever. That and some 8-10 buttons will do. For starters

Best, and good luck

Edit: that looked to much like a commercial for a joystick manufacturer Better, now :>

[dukmiester2]

You may want to check out this thread also. It has a very good breakdown on price-points for a whole range of sticks.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2640900

Personally, I'm using a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. It has a twist stick for rudder control, a slider for throttle, a hat switch to look around with, and 12 buttons. Works great in MS Flight "right out of the box", but I should mention you will want to install the drivers/software that come with it.

[spyrochaete]

I'm greatly enjoying using my Thrustmaster 16000m. It has nice resistance, has a throttle slider and a hat switch, has yaw control, and works perfectly with this game and many others. It was about $60 CAD.

[Cooper Kid]

Originally Posted by ScruffyDuck

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. Has a twist axis for the rudder. Works well for me

Another +1 for this stick - I love it so much I've got two

[moodforaday]

Originally Posted by crusader58

I simply use the XBOX 360 Controller and find it very responsive

I had a 360 controller (Saitek Rumble Pad for PC) lying around and it was the first thing I tried, since I didn't have a joystick at hand. A few good things about it - plenty of buttons within easy reach, nice to the touch, and it's sooo easy to move the camera around quickly using the right joystick.

What killed it for me though was trying to control pitch and bank with my left thumb only :-) The joystick on a gamepad is so small and has so little travel that I found it very hard to make small adjustments, and downright impossible to reliably and gently control both axes at once.

To those who haven't made up their minds yet, I would suggest you try it out in-game if only you can, before you buy. There's a huge difference in control and precision you have in your left thumb and in your right hand.

In the end I bought the X52 Pro joystick+throttle and that has made all the difference. However, despite the glowing reviews you'll find, this setup is not without problems, either. The USB cable is much too short for one thing... but the worst thing is the annoying oscillation "noise" on some of the knobs and even the throttle itself.

I was hoping to use the X or Y wheel on the throttle for zoom (in FSX), and that only makes the picture flicker back and forth, as the control sends oscillating signals to the game. Don't know if it's the electronics or the mechanical build, but at that price I expected a much better quality. The wheels are practically unusable just due to that noise.

If I knew then what I know now (or how hooked on Flight I would become), I might break the bank and go for this awesome toy - assuming it doesn't have similar problems. Morbidly expensive though.

[bastila13091]

Originally Posted by moodforaday

I had a 360 controller (Saitek Rumble Pad for PC) lying around and it was the first thing I tried, since I didn't have a joystick at hand. A few good things about it - plenty of buttons within easy reach, nice to the touch, and it's sooo easy to move the camera around quickly using the right joystick.

What killed it for me though was trying to control pitch and bank with my left thumb only :-) The joystick on a gamepad is so small and has so little travel that I found it very hard to make small adjustments, and downright impossible to reliably and gently control both axes at once.

To those who haven't made up their minds yet, I would suggest you try it out in-game if only you can, before you buy. There's a huge difference in control and precision you have in your left thumb and in your right hand.

In the end I bought the X52 Pro joystick+throttle and that has made all the difference. However, despite the glowing reviews you'll find, this setup is not without problems, either. The USB cable is much too short for one thing... but the worst thing is the annoying oscillation "noise" on some of the knobs and even the throttle itself.

I was hoping to use the X or Y wheel on the throttle for zoom (in FSX), and that only makes the picture flicker back and forth, as the control sends oscillating signals to the game. Don't know if it's the electronics or the mechanical build, but at that price I expected a much better quality. The wheels are practically unusable just due to that noise.

If I knew then what I know now (or how hooked on Flight I would become), I might break the bank and go for this awesome toy - assuming it doesn't have similar problems. Morbidly expensive though.

On the original X-52, there's a wheel that you can use for zoom. The wheels on the thumb of the throttle I found are good for prop and mixture. I'm using the X-65F now, but I had the original X-52 for years, and both are rather similar in twist and hat buttons.

[RoboRay]

If the Warthog is out of your price range, take a look at the Logitech G940. Stick, dual-lever throttles, and rudder pedals for a lot less money.

[lgrochal]

Originally Posted by RoboRay

If the Warthog is out of your price range, take a look at the Logitech G940. Stick, dual-lever throttles, and rudder pedals for a lot less money.

Never, ever consider a Logitech G940 if you want precision (like in: accurate approaches, formation flying, etc.). G940 suffers from what users call a "reversal bug". In short (and for example) - when you're on approach and gradually reduce throttle, and then decide to power up a bit (to reduce sink rate), the stick won't notice it until you push the lever at least 3% or so. And then, it will simply jump from - say - 35% straight to 38%. That applies to all the axes except pitch and roll, i.e. both throttles, rudder pedals, brakes, analog hat-switch are all affected.

Now, you may or may not initially find it annoying (or even notice it). You might even learn to work around the problem by making some fancy, jerky adjustments to throttle and rudders. But at $250+ apiece, I wouldn't call it worth the hassle. Plus - remember that Flight doesn't support force feedback.

[moodforaday]

Originally Posted by bastila13091

On the original X-52, there's a wheel that you can use for zoom.

Do you mean the "mouse" wheel? It works fine in Flight, doesn't work in FSX (unless you depress the space key). The only problem with it that it *does* behave as a mouse wheel, so it won't work if you flick the mouse cursor outside of your primary screen.

Originally Posted by bastila13091

The wheels on the thumb of the throttle I found are good for prop and mixture. I'm using the X-65F now, but I had the original X-52 for years, and both are rather similar in twist and hat buttons.

I'm using the three large buttons on the joystick base for flaps, rpm and mixture. So far I haven't found a use for the thumb wheels on the throttle. Because of how noisy they are, they could only be used for settings that do not care about or are not affected by constant 1-2% oscillation around a point. In FSX, they cannot be used for zoom or switching views, for example, because FSX interprets every tiny motion as a change of zoom or switching a view, and it ends up responding to those changes several times a second.

What I'd like to find out is whether this is a common problem with X52, or if it's just mine that's faulty in this way. The oscillation can easily be seen in the X52 control panel, as the red markers are shaking all the time with no input to the wheels.

[moodforaday]

Originally Posted by RoboRay

If the Warthog is out of your price range, take a look at the Logitech G940. Stick, dual-lever throttles, and rudder pedals for a lot less money.

Well, it's out of my price range now that I bought X52 only a month ago. In time, I'm sure I'll find an excuse :-)