Hotas/Flight Stick Recommendations?

[Cmdr. Numa]

I have used CHPro stuff for years - the throttle is excellent for Elite but it is being sold for nearly twice the price I paid. I used the Fighterstick in Elite for ages but recently treated myself to more modern gear. I bought the VKB Gladiator EVO and I am super impressed with it - total cost £238 - I also have a Virpil Constellation alpha with WarBRD base but that cost £400 - it is really good (feels very robust) but it's dimensions mean I only fit it for flight sims.

It is very noticeable how "floppy" / "loose" the CHPro Fighterstick compares to these more expensive sticks and of course it is great to not need dead-zones any more! It is also noticeable that the cost of the Fighterstick is stupid these days, makes the VKB more attractive.

I seriously recommend the VKB EVO - it is well worth the money. Maybe couple it with the TCWS throttle which is only £90?

Luckily I got my Fighterstick cheap 7 years ago. It was one returned by a previous buyer, so it was discounted. Luckily I never had the issues you describe. I have no deadzone set up and don't need on either, it's absolutely precise.

Nowadays I'd probably go with Virpil Constellation Delta and their trottle, if my CH ever breaks.

 

[cmdr Ramius007]

I used Hotas X, T-16k and currently X-52 (not pro version) in Elite, and i must say that for casual play, best is cheapest Hotas X, if we are talking what we get for money invested, T 16k otoh beats X-52 in precision by big margin, so if you absolutely want to pvp on Hotas, then it's much better than alternatives, of course there is VBK here that i didnt used, but have opinion of being best choice, and seeing performance of some of my friends with it, i think it's deserved.

 

[BDelacroix]

The thing I don't like about the T16 is the flat throttle. Well ok, button placement, too.

 

[cmdr Ramius007]

The thing I don't like about the T16 is the flat throttle. Well ok, button placement, too.

t 16k only makes sense with a throttle

 

[robbyp]

Ch pro throttle with a t16000m.

It would be nice if there was a middle ground between stupid prices and the 16000m class stuff on sticks. I've not found one yet

 

[leeG]

I use dual T.16000s and a custom T.A.R.G.E.T script which let’s me program the limited buttons on the sticks to provide all the functions I need to play Elite in VR. I like the accuracy and feel of the sticks and the programming flexibility T.A.R.G.E.T provides.

The weakness of the T.16000 the yaw axis. It’s nowhere near as robust as the hall sensor pitch axis and roll axis. That said, I like my setup enough to put up with potential yaw axis failures and keep a spare joystick just in case.

 

[robbyp]

Sadly the CH Fighterstick and throttle are no longer available anywhere. The Throttle is still arguably the best possible for ED, thanks to it's analog thumb stick. I just hope mine never ever breaks.

Ch pro throttle in the uk is available at scan.co.uk right now as is the ch flight stick pro !

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

Ch pro throttle in the uk is available at scan.co.uk right now as is the ch flight stick pro !

Good to know they're still making them, here in Germany no chance to get one anymore. Sadly the all new modern tech CH HOTAS rumoured a few years ago never materialised. Virpil have filled the void since, with very high end, very expensive stuff. MFG Crosswind pedals added in, and you're at 1000 € for one complete HOTAS set, crazy. CH actually is the middle grade.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I started with the Hotas 3 - That was fine as a beginner, went to the X52 pro and really liked it, but it was a duff and things on the stick started not working a little after a year. I replaced that with an X56, that lasted 13 months before one of the analog sticks lost an axis - replaced with a Warthog - which started sticking at a little over a year old, that was replaced and I sold the replacement on. Bought an X56 whilst waiting for Virpil kit to arrive - expensive, but a good move in my opinion, solid and accurate, great for other games too. (and after a month or so of the X56 was even more appreciated!)

 

[Flyinion]

My vote is for the VKB gladiator SCG stick(s). I replaced my OG X52 (like the original 2004 release) with dual VKB sticks and have no regrets so far. I'm newer to Elite but my X52 was just worn from years of flight simming. It worked although the dead zones had to be increased a bit at the end of some of the axes, but the main issue was the soft coating on the stick turned sticky and had to be stripped off. I don't know that I'd recommend the current basic X52's. A friend picked one up and ended up RMA'ing it 3 times for flashing lights etc. before getting one that behaves. I had planned originally on an X56 though but they were sold out at the time. I've heard that the ones with the gray silk screening on them (indicating Logitech made ones vs blue when Madcatz owned Saitek) were supposed to be the ones to get, but I've also heard contradictory info on that since.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

Started with a Thrustmaster Hotas X (really cheap but good for its price). When the Thrustmaster became worn out and creaky and I decided for myself that I will keep on playing Elite for many years to come, I switched over to Virpil which is an entirely different price point but worth the investment.

 

[Greybeard Seawolf]

I started off with the Thrustmaster Hotas 1 but quickly had issues with drifting axis. Moved on to the T.16000M FCS FLIGHT PACK which up until this year worked pretty well but it started to have increasing issues so I bit the bullet and switched to a full Virpil rig. Damn it hurt financially but the build quality is so good, the precision of everything from the pedals and the throttle and joystick has made flying a pure joy. I have it all mounted on my desk (see crap quality photo below) and I'm in immersion heaven

 

[SirMaxxx]

IMHO you can't beat the X52 Pro - unless you get a bad one
Mine has lasted thousands of hours play over three or four years (I recommend keeping an eye open for sales on Amazon - I got mine about 1/2 price)

Also I cannot recommend Voice Attack highly enough as the best bang-for-buck add-on for ED

There's an EDDI add on to VA (free) that gives you all sorts of info (verbally) - like where the landing pad is in a station, when you request docking) - and the pleasure of being able to say "Deploy Heatsink" in a moment of pew-pew panic rather than trying to remember what it's bound to is, quite literally, a life saver.

 

[Willyum-71]

Hey guys and gals...

I’ve recently bought myself a shiny new PC in anticipation of the console transfer next month and I’m looking for recommendations on decent Hotas set ups.

I’m already more than familiar with the tragically designed Hotas One for the Xbox (seriously I had to open, clean & re-solder the whole thing to get it working properly), so pretty much anything would be a step up

Thank you for starting this thread.

(this thread was 5 pages deep so I hope you don't mind me making a long post, hehehe)
(the next 4 paragraphs are totally unnecessary... you can jump to just above the pics...)
I've been pretty disappointed with my controllers as well, went from basic gamepad to advanced gamepad to Logitech Extreme 3D to T.flight HOTAS one to the Logitech X52 Pro... All of them either failed, were severely missing needed control or jittered all over the place (by the first week I had dead zones set up on almost every axis of the X52). With the dead zones the X52 pro is a decent performer but I really missed the throttle plus lateral axis on the T.flight... with the X52 you either have to use the 'absolute' L/R/U/D thrusters or program the wheels... Didn't want the warthog because of 'no twist' and was almost about to try the X56.

VKB controllers was totally not on my radar at all.... and that was a MASSIVE mistake. A lot of you guys were speaking very highly of VKB Sim, so I started looking at what they had.... then started seeing what they could do and was completely blown away by how deep you could get into every aspect of their physical and digital control... In the premium pack they even give you 'other' buttons and hats to swap out.... springs of every size to really fine tune the feel... The EVO's stick gimbal is even contactless magnetics with ball-bearing movement.......... ball bearings..... and clutch on each axis!!! Every axis is tuned separately, you want L/R tight while F/B is lose, done!.... want L/R to have a 'zero' return but F/B stat in place, done! You want the dual action mouse on only one of the sticks, open it up... swap it out for a dedicated hat instead.... Don't want a hat on your thumb, swap it for a single press button, done! Hold on, I'm gonna include the pics of the massive amount of 'customization-parts' included.... it's so sick!

Now digitally... it's ridiculous!.... Hold on, I have to say, all this customizing is totally not necessary... I pulled mine straight out of the box, attached the 3 screws that attaches the stick to the base and plugged it in... rock solid with ultra smooth dampening from stock!!! Even at 'plug&play' it's a beast and all the part-tolerances are tight. this thing feels like it will last a lifetime. I didn't understand when people kept saying 'high grade plastics', I do now!

Ok digitally, it has built in 32bit processing that allows you to go so deep into the 'programming' rabbit hole. The smart sticks can be a mouse... 2-way axis controllers, 8-way button hat... macros... trimming... on-the-fly axis curve changer............ and not only can you stack any two of those functions (stupid example but if you wanted to use it as a throttle axis, you could add a button trigger at the top end to trigger 'boost'... or whatever combo an axis with button presses at the end of the axis could be good for).... But then you click the smart stick and it has a second set of functionality..... I'll be honest with you, the vids started to get so deep on the types of things you could do with ALL the different controls, I just really started getting confused.... You can even setup the RGB LED's to show if the stick is maintaining absolute zero (so you can know if something is 'off' on the calibration... and a bunch of other stuff with the LED's..... it got exhausting, like my post... so on to the pics...

But wait... something like this must be 'Virpil' money right??? Want something that can do EVERYTHING and be rock solid... that's gotta break the bank right? Oh and it's modular so you can add an entire bank and daisy chain on both sides Plus vertically....... Man that's gotta break the bank, right???
As we get older, we learn that companies usually match their warranties with how much faith they have in their product. 'Trash', 90 days.... Decent quality, but don't shake, 1 year..... Good quality, have fun (but Void if opened), 2 years............... Not only does VKB give 2 years, but it's shipped fully open, you have to get inside.... and they didn't even stop me when they knew I was from NYC!!! Tinker til your heart's content! Not to mention, if you have the last model, they allow you to just buy the upgraded Ball bearing gimbal to upgrade your unit to EVO yourself...
I bought the HOSTAS setup (that's Hands on Stick-Throttle and Stick... best of both worlds) $340, plus 1 of their add-on modules $70 plus shipping...................

Took 7 days to arrive from China... very well packed....

This is without the module connected.... was trying to figure out the best position to mount in my cockpit without moving my racing 'h-shifter'...

Ships fully open, you have to get dirty... love it!!!

You don't ever need to use all these parts... but they're there if you need them.... Why do I need 6 of each spring weight? lol ... next to the 20 pound springs you can see the alternate hat switch... then lower center is the thumb alternate... The blue mat is just the parts for 1 controller.

Solid!... even though today is only day one, you can feel when something just feels right.... I will let you know if anything goes wrong though...

I really, really thank all you guys in this thread for getting me to look at this companies stuff... I'm feeling like this is my End-Game controller... Especially since you can buy the upgrade parts without replacing the entire controller... That's a boss move by them!

Here's a coupe of the reviews that I looked at afer reading this thread that helped me decide... But also check out the company youtube page... tons of 'how to's

non EVO...

 

[Red Rocket]

I have gone through 5 Thrustmaster t160000 in the last 5 years, by the twist going out.
I learned how to repair the twist by taking apart and spraying the twist sensor with electrical cleaner and got it to work good as new.
the T160000 works great for Elite and love the twist function for controlling ships in Elite.

After getting into DCS World a was having with enough control doing Air to Air refueling so I upgraded to WinWing Orion HOTAS, and love it.
it sits kind of high on a desk so i would recommend looking at desk mounts that will lower it down a bit.
The WinWing HOTAS is built as good as the Wort Hog, or Virpil ( all Metal ) but costs less.

The Orion has no Twist function so you may need Peddles, I have mapped a button on the throttle for yaw in Elite and Mapped my racing Peddles for rudders in DCS.
this racing peddle Mapping doesn't work in Elite

 

[Willyum-71]

Mapped my racing Peddles for rudders in DCS.
this racing peddle Mapping doesn't work in Elite

Haven't tried in a ship, but I do use my g29 racing pedals with the X52 when I'm in my SRV, I use the gas as forward and the break as reverse... I have never used an actual rudder, but don't they also function as 2 axis?

 

[Astaran]

I've been using a T16000 set (stick, pedals, throttle) for a bit over a year now. The ergonomics are great (for me) and I appreciate the amount of buttons I can bind. The only downside is the poor quality of the stick: After a only a few months the yaw-issue would make itself known. I can compensate a bit with increasing the respective deadzone in the Elite settings, but that's really just a workaround.

I think the T16000 is good enough for a beginner's HOTAS and if you'd like to see if you like playing Elite with HOTAS. But if you're serious about playing Elite with HOTAS, I'd go for a quality HOTAS.

 

[Bill Clement]

My recommendation would be an X-56. I had the 55 and loved it, although the MadKatz build quality was awful! I rewired the throttle two years in and was still using it at the start of this month, three or four years later. I gave the stick away to another ED player, it was still pretty much good as new after three years of fairly heavy use. In my humble, very subjective opinion, the X-56 HOTAS hits the sweet spot of price versus performance. The new, grey marked Logitek ones are reputed to have much better build quality than the MadKatz 55s.

Having said that, I'm using VKB kit now, the Gladiator NXT EVO 'throttle' paired with a Gunfighter MGC. The build quality is amazing and everything is adjustable eight ways to Christmas! It's total overkill for Elite and eye wateringly expensive but if your budget can stretch that far it's well worth having. The Gunfighter looks and feels brand new, four years in. I don't know if that counts as value for money, but there's certainly no 'buyers remorse' from me.

 

[💽 luka 💙]

i've been looking at getting a pair of vkb gladiator evo space combat edition sticks, one of them with the omni-throttle base attachment. seems like the best hotas/hosas setup for 6dof shennanigans. the omni-throttle itself seems like the grand mac daddy of 6dof hotas lol, it's basically just their usual stick mounted sideways to feel more like a 3d throttle.
both the omni-throttle and the regular version come in left and right handed variants, so if you want a right handed throttle you're free to do that!

VKB North America

We sell VKB Flight & Space Simulation Controllers for customers in the United States and Canada.

vkbcontrollers.com

VKB North America

We sell VKB Flight & Space Simulation Controllers for customers in the United States and Canada.

vkbcontrollers.com

the only downside seems to be that they're silly expensive, about US$340 for both sticks x.x
all the reviews say they're excellent tho (and so do other people itt), and they have gobs of both digital and analog inputs.

it's what i'm getting when i upgrade from a ds4 lol
- 7α

 

[Salonica]

Have to admit, looking aty that Gladiator above, I'd never purchase it at any price. Not even a fiver. It's 2 hall effect sensors connected to a (guessing) STM32 all bunched into a lot of plastic. I see nothing better than most run of the mill sticks.

Open a warthog and you see plastic for sure all housed in a metal (alloy).

The X52s et'all were all junk.

Thing is with a little learning anyone can build these things. An Arduino for $6 could be connected to the same cheap parts and you have the same joystick. I recently bought a STM32 + 10 hall effect sensors for €12. I'm a 'creator'.. built my own laser cutter, my own milling machine, my own force feedback wheel (for ETS) and I build my own panels for Flight Sim 2020.

The point is.. Educate on what is these things. Mostly you're paying premium credits for lack-lustre performing items. An you really don't need to be spendng those credits on Elite D. It simply does not have the game play to support it.

o7