Favorite hotas throttle

[BirdWisdom]

For me the Thrustmaster throttle has been great. Ive been Fa-Off 100% for about 3 years or so now.
The front paddles act as forward and reverse thrust and the small mini joystick has been my Vertical and lateral thrust.
Some of the buttons have started to not work recently, the the up and down button with grip on it near the mini has stopped working now.
Also the mini joystick is starting to gain drift and needs a larger and larger deadzone. Due to an Illness I play a lot. so between Elite, NMS, StarCit, X3 and X4, Arma3 and various other games I have played My Sticks and Throttles have had well over 30k hours of use. Over 7.5k of that in Elite.

But the throttle has outlasted 3 thrustmaster Joysticks, they are terrible, they always break on the Yaw.

Anyway I went nuts recently and bought myself Dual VKB nxt sticks and VKB pedals, will be replacing my Thrustmaster setup with that setup today.
and then spending a few weeks trying to unlearn 5 years of hotas use and 3 years of muscle memory for the fa-off thrusters in elite.
Rebuys here I come

TLDR- the thrustmaster throttle is great for fa-off.

The orange T.16000 has bad solders when it comes to yaws that I solved by re-soldering, therefore the green T.16000 is better, and a program Microsoft Store in task manager used to disrupt some control apps that I usually turn off.

Re-soldering worked for me.

This one distrupted my CH Throttle program so i turned this off in Task manager, so it might interfere with other programs as well.

 

[BL1P]

The orange T.16000 has bad solders when it comes to yaws that I solved by re-soldering, therefore the green T.16000 is better, and a program Microsoft Store in task manager used to disrupt some control apps that I usually turn off.

View attachment 197569 Re-soldering worked for me.

View attachment 197570 This one distrupted my CH Throttle program so i turned this off in Task manager, so it might interfere with other programs as well.

I guess if I could solder that would be brilliant

 

[VR Roxydog]

I have the X56 throttle which i really like and Alpha Virpil stick.

Did buy the latest Virpil throttle as well (CM2) but it needs stops and detents and the thumb stick moved to the same position as the X56. It has an extra 20deg throw on it.
I couldn't use it at all as too used to the X56 which I find really comfortable.

 

[BDelacroix]

I like the x52 throttle. Two things I don't like about it are the mouse nub axis changes axis in your mind as the throttle is moved. It doesn't actually change, but since your orientation is now different, the mouse nub is rendered more or less useless as up becomes right etc. If you've tried using it, you will know what I mean.

The second thing is it has no analog hat stick. I have a g13 with that on it but I have to move my hand from the throttle to the pad to use that.

The thing about the t16000 I don't like is the throttle is flat. Every throttle I've used is on an arch which feels natural (and I've used throttles in a real airplane). The flat throttle just feels wrong.

 

[AkenBosch]

The orange T.16000 has bad solders when it comes to yaws that I solved by re-soldering, therefore the green T.16000 is better, and a program Microsoft Store in task manager used to disrupt some control apps that I usually turn off.

Bought my green T.16000 in 2009, went through many, many, many hours of Freespace/IL2/Flight Simulator/Elite before the yaw started to gave up badly, early 2016. Stored it in a box and moved to Hotas X/4 until now, woefully less precise but hey, throttle!

A few weeks ago I needed something of extreme precision for some very tricky FA-Off work, something my now spiky and jittery Hotas 4 is totally unfit for...so, there comes the T.16 out of its box, four and a half years later! Opened the stick up, gave a full cleaner pass to the yaw pot and recalibrated the thing. Been working as good as new since, even if I'll keep it as a dedicated "racing" stick while still using the Hotas 4 for general gameplay, because it's just so much more comfortable (and hey, throttle).

I suspect old "green lights" might have been indeed more reliable than the new stuff...in the same way that my first Hotas X gave up on a couple of throttle buttons due to absolute abuse but with every axis still being very much functional three years down the road (it's been repurposed as a MFS emergency stick for when I fly on the girlfriend PC ), while the newer Hotas 4 had its stick axis all over the place after less than six months from first light...

The thing about the t16000 I don't like is the throttle is flat. Every throttle I've used is on an arch which feels natural (and I've used throttles in a real airplane). The flat throttle just feels wrong.

Another of the things I love about the Hotas throttle. It's a shame it has so few buttons, no hats/analog sticks and is not detachable from the stick unit, because between its arched motion, central detent and great ergonomy, I'd gladly keep it while using the trusty old T.16.

 

[GonzTheMalificent]

Bought a T16000M throttle stick combo in early 2018 when I got ED.

Been through three T16000M sticks, now on Gladiator NXT with original Thrustmaster throttle. Didn't realize how poor the TM stick was for yaw and precise movement in general - just goes to show if you look for your cheese elsewhere occasionally!!

 

[Para Handy]

Have you used other throttles? Only I've read that the CH throttle travel is pretty bad. I have a CH stick which I like (except that I have to do yaw with a mouse on the floor with my foot, lol), but not many people seem overly enthused about the throttle.
Am I wrong (I have no idea).

You are wrong.

The throttle is really very good. Of course it doesn't have a centre detent - you either use it with a reverse button (what I do) or you do one of the web-detailed mods - velcro strips etc.

Considering that the connection to your desk is via four little "rubber" pads - is is extremely stable, quite remarkably so (unless you let dust gather on the pads).

The switches are industrial quality and the mini-stick is really great - although it does need a decent dead-zone (as the range of travel is small).

Inside, yes the throttle movement is slider driving a pot and so not a hall-effect but it is really sufficient.

All in all, built to last, great size, good feel but in short supply.


(Edited to include the winking smiley I forgot before. )

 

[Dahill]

Currently using the X56 Throttle with a VKB Gladiator NXT (still learning the stick). I like the throttle and would never be able to step to the thrust master options. I was honestly concerned about the VKB Kosmosima grip being too plastic feeling, but it feels so good in other ways I forget the lack of soft touch.
Now the throttle has been torn down, cleaned of the e they put in at Logitech, Nyogel installed and the friction turned all the way down (Nyogel is a great lubricant, but also a great dampening grease). I wish the rotary's on the throttle were not so flimsy and the throttle lock between the two was tighter, but it works for me and I couldn't complain after 3 years plus with it.

 

[Heater]

Must say I have been using a Warthog from day one and love it!

 

[Bravo17]

You can get different (non Thrustmaster) inserts for the Warthog that can give you a center detent.

Joysticks and stuff by debolestis - Shapeways Shops

<div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:18px">This shop is specialized in custom joystick parts. If you need something that is joystick related I'll draw it for free, I add only 2$ above Shapeways' price in this shop. Please contact me if you have interesting...

www.shapeways.com

 

[GunnerBill]

TWCS & paddles = win!

 

[Gleitfrosch]

X55/56 throttle has a great layout, loved it... before it broke.
Currently using the Virpil throttle, also very good, just a few buttons are placed unfortunately.
Also tried the warthog throttle, it is the worst of the three. Bad layout and the switches are on/off, which reduces the possibilities to bind them.

 

[d8veh]

Virpil for the win!

 

[Lyvan Kitaen]

Supposedly Winwing is coming out with a new throttle soon. There's not much hard info on it though.

Winwing

Our GENERIC Class HOTAS-Orion release! ETA at 11.11, the Chinese black friday. Compatible with 18 grips 16EX grips/kits KA 50 collective FX program etc

www.facebook.com

Looks sorta like what you would get if you crossed a Virpil and a Warthog throttle. I don't know about the switches sitting in front of the throttle lever though, they seem like they'd be hard to reach.

 

[Lyvan Kitaen]

Virpil just announced their CM3 throttle and it has detents.

Introducing the VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle

Hello VIRPILs! We know there has been a lot of speculation after we posted our “A New Way to Fly” teaser in August about the throttle unit shown… Today we’re incredibly excited to announce our VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle! The new CM3 variant of our popular MongoosT-50 series features a number of ...

forum.virpil.com

 

[CMDR Harada]

Oh man... I want that new VIRPIL.. Gonna have to figure a way to explain it showing up to the wife. Or buy her off with jewelry..

 

[Awesumnus Maximus]

Virpil just announced their CM3 throttle and it has detents.

Introducing the VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle

Hello VIRPILs! We know there has been a lot of speculation after we posted our “A New Way to Fly” teaser in August about the throttle unit shown… Today we’re incredibly excited to announce our VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle! The new CM3 variant of our popular MongoosT-50 series features a number of ...

forum.virpil.com

View attachment 198313

Here we go. I hate people who say "Shutup and take my money," but...

 

[CMDR Night Tripper]

[Microsoft Store] This one distrupted my CH Throttle program so i turned this off in Task manager, so it might interfere with other programs as well.

Yeah, I've also noticed that if I plug in my CH throttle and start the CH Control Manager and click on Test/Calibrate-button, the manager program often (always?) freezes (The program doesn't respond in Task Manager). Usually this is fixed by opening the Microsoft Store and then I immediately hear the Windows chime (sound of USB-device connected?) and the CH Control Manager is again working. If I don't unplug the throttle, it works, but plugging it back in causes these freezes.

 

[CMDR Night Tripper]

Oh man... I want that new VIRPIL.. Gonna have to figure a way to explain it showing up to the wife. Or buy her off with jewelry..

Spray your new VIRPIL with a can of Vantablack and keep your game room dark.

 

[CMDR Night Tripper]

Have you used other throttles? Only I've read that the CH throttle travel is pretty bad. I have a CH stick which I like (except that I have to do yaw with a mouse on the floor with my foot, lol), but not many people seem overly enthused about the throttle.
Am I wrong (I have no idea).

I have the CH Throttle, I bought it for ED along with the CH Fighterstick and I've been pretty happy with them, though I've never used other throttles so can't compare.

Buttons and 4 way hats are well placed for my hands and the mini joystick is great for vertical and lateral thrusters and tuning in the FSS, but I've had to add a little deadzone for the ministick.

Throttle movement is ok in feel, but if I look at the CH Control Manager, the throttle Z-axis value tends to jitter a bit and the throttle sometimes "sticks" in-game and doesn't go full throttle or 0 throttle, lifting the throttle unit and putting it back down usually "fixes" this. It seems that this jitteriness and "stickiness" is usually fixed by spraying the pot with contact cleaner and/or soldering the pot connections, which apparently are just clamped. I've meant to do these fixes for a while, but I've yet to reach the threshold of irritation to actually do something about it. I'll do it in the next 40 years, promise.