Don't waste your money on a Warthog for this game. I will out fly you all day long with the lighter and dirt cheap Logitech 3D Extreme Pro, plus flight pedals. Twist yaw on the joystick, and up, down, left & right thrust on the pedals.
I do have a Warthog, I use it for the game it was made for DCS A-10C and helicopter sims.
I might use a Warthog in Elite for flying a T9, that would feel about right. Too heavy, no twist yaw.
Twist yaw is kinda bad for your wrists long term, but regardless, the right control is the one that works best for you.
I currently have a CH Pro throttle, T16000M, VKB Cobra M5, VKB T-Rudder MKIII, and a Warthog.
Pedals are awesome once you get the hang of it, way more precise than twist, even in a game like ED where yaw is so slow.
The T16000M is a nice stick, very precise, and probably the most nicely sprung, but it has a hopeless button layout, with 12 buttons on the base of the stick making it 12 wasted buttons when used in HOTAS config, with only 8 bindings on the stick. Paired with a CH Pro throttle, it works, because the CG has so many buttons, hats and that awesome analog thumbstick.
The VKB Cobra M5 is a little light for my taste, and the twist is WWAAAYY too soft, making it not very good with twist yaw, as just pressing a button on the stick - any button, will make you yaw, which can throw off your aim mid battle. Sure, you can give yourself a deadzone, but the size I needed seemed too big for my taste. I like tight, precise controls. In terms of actual precision, it's not bad at all, close to the T16000M, but the two hats, dual stage trigger (which, if modded to allow discrete trigger presses, would be even better), pinky trigger, and two additional buttons on the stick make for 13 individual bindings on the stick. the only problem is the "bump" on the left side of the head of the stick, making moving your thumb around a bit awkward unless you have fairly large hands. Currently, this stick, the T-rudder pedals and the CH Pro Throttle are my in game controls.
The Warthog - feels like something made by big burly men with a forge and lots of fire and big hammers. It's solid, heavy, and the controls are quite stiff, but the thing is a beast. The stick itself is probably a tad heavily sprung for ED, but, it is very precise (uses the same MARs sensors as the T16000M - a bonus for the little brother), the best part about this stick is the 23 (form memory) bindings on the stick. You have no idea the level of awesome this is for ED. Whilst I can fly as a "proper" HOTAS with any of the above sticks, provided the CH Pro Throttle is in the mix, I still need modifiers, which can be a bit of a hassle mid battle, resulting in heat sink launches instead of chaff, or accidental fire group changes - not often, but against players, when stress is high because you are bot near death...
Anyway, with the Warthog stick, there is no need for modifiers. MY actual first choice for this game is the Warthog stick, CH Pro throttle and VKB T-Rudder pedals, the only thing that I'd change is reduced stick spring tension for ED, but otherwise, if your stick is screwed down to something (as mine will be once I finish my cockpit), this will be less of an issue.
Now, the Warthog throttle are awesome, too, but I choose the CH due to the analog thumbstick, which controls my lateral thrust, and gives me close enough to dual stick control, plus proper throttle control, and a bucket load of binds all at my fingertips. I use the Warthog stock for Flightsims, and the CH Pro for ED.
Now, the reason my current stick of choice the Cobra M5 is more due to my living situation than anything else. The Warthog has a huge base, and it simply wont fit on the modded off chair I use to play ED whilst in Aus. I currently live between two countries due to a unique and special work and partner situation, and so have brought my Warthog to the Philippines where I am working on some sort of cockpit set up.
Now, as for other sticks...
The new VKB Gladiator series looks great, the cams, adjustable springs and joystick quality in general looks awesome, but it seems to be a stick based on a WWII fighter, which means even less bindings on the stick than the T16000M.
There is alleged to be a Gunfighter stick in the works, which will be available with a "Jetfighter" style stick (think of something like a Warthog or CH fighter stick type configuration), this sounds like it has a lot of potential, but, it will be pricey - $300+, mark is a fair guess at this stage, though historically VKB have made their high end designed available with a Warthog adaptor, allowing you to replace the VKB stick with the Warthog Stick.
Really, what I wish TM had done is redesign the T16000M to have a pinky trigger, a button on the thumb rest, and two to three hats/4 way switches along with the existing bindings. This would have made for a sensational stick, and would have been worth a $20-$30 price hike IMHO. Opportunity wasted, I think...
Z...
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