This Stick is basically the best Flight sim stick money can buy. The feel of this stick screams quality and it really does add to the realism. For those of you who don't know, this stick is a exact Replica of the F-16 Stick, and by extension, the A-10C Warthog Stick.
A little history:
The A-10A Warthog used a different stick back in the 70's thru 90's. In the late 90's and early 2000's, The USAF upgraded a bunch of their A-10 Planes with a new cockpit, computer system, guidance system, and stick system. They added the F-16's stick, because pilots preferred it due to it's easy to reach controls. After everything was upgraded, the A-10A, was changed to the A-10C. This allowed them to drop GPS guidance bombs, and calculate projectile logistics while the aircraft was accelerating or moving. I learned a lot of this stuff from DCS World's, A-10C Simulator. This is a officially license designed from the USAF, which means for every stick sold, Thrustmaster has to pay the USAF a royalty fee. Feel good about supporting our military when you buy this stick.
This Thrustmaster Replica stick, is so good, it has been used in tons of movies as a official prop. The newest movie to use this stick, is "The Martian"
About the Stick:
Quality: a lot of reviewers are mentioning the stick grip itself, is made of plastic. But you can't tell. When you grip this stick, you will think it's metal. It is cold to the touch. It does not move, or creak when you grip it. The "feel" of the movement of the stick is amazing. It provides consistent resistance on the full range of axis. Some reviewers are mentioning sticktion in some of the early units. I have revision 3, and have not noticed any sticktion at all. I believe thrustmaster has changed the grease, and upgraded the ball joint. The buttons are slightly stiff, but real looking. They are not overly stiff, but they are just right.
The Throttle is a amazing piece of engineering and is a testimate to thrustmaster's design team. All of the flip switches are superb in quality, even beating audio equipment switches. The LED lights on the throttle are a nice touch, but i wish they were interactive. There are more buttons than you could ever use, however it does lack a rotary dial. Some space sim fans will want a rotary dial, or a full analog joystick. This throttle does not have that. It has a little mouse nub (similar to IBM thinkpad laptops), that you use with your ring finger, but its no where near the function of a analog stick or rotary dial.
The throttle is amazing, but i'm more into space simulators like Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, No-Man's Sky etc..
My Dream Setup would be the Warthog stick, with a Saitek Throttle which has a trackball. The new star citizen saitek sticks coming out later this year, will have a track ball on them. But there is no way Saitek's actual stick, will be even close in feel and quality to this warthog stick.
You can play Space Simulator games fine with the full Warthog setup, but the way Star Citizen works, is you have free floating gimbled weapons, which do not "auto-lock" like they do in Elite Dangerous. So aiming is a bit of a challenge because your effectively trying to hit a 2mm square pip (target), on a 24" monitor. Sticks are not the best a precision aiming, thats why mouse and keyboard users will have more precision. But with a stick, you will be able to out-maneuver them every time. You can pull off the most complex maneuvers, that a keyboard and mouse simply cannot.
The Thrustmaster Warthog is built in a way, that it is easily disassembled if you should ever want to. Some users replace the grease with a thicker variety. Being able to repair, and mod this stick, justifies the asking price. There are a ton of mods, exensions and how-to video's on modifying this stick. It is a very popular stick, my particular unit is number 32,678, so that means they have sold over 32,000 of these sticks. And that's saying a lot because it's so expensive. Bottom Line: This stick will last you your whole life, because your able to repair and get parts for it.
I am not going to go over the software much, because other reviewers have touched on it quite a bit. Some people don't use the software at all, but i think that's a mistake. Thrustmaster's software is the most powerful control software to ever be written. You can do anything with this stick, it has it's own full programming language similar to C#. This puts competitors software to shame.
I'll end this long review with a glowing recommendation and i will also mention that Thrustmaster support is A+ should you ever need it. I really wish Cloud Imperium Games (Makers of Star Citizen) would have worked with Thrustmaster instead of Saitek, because there sticks are so much better. Really, almost everything thrustmaster makes, is the best money can buy, in that price bracket.
Stop reading and throw your money at the screen.
Thanks for reading.
| Brand | THRUSTMASTER |
|---|---|
| Series | Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Flight Stick |
| Item model number | 2960738 |
| Hardware Platform | pc |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Item Weight | 8.98 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 10.55 x 9.65 x 12.36 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 10.55 x 9.65 x 12.36 inches |
| Color | Black |
| Power Source | Corded Electric |
| Department | Electronics |
| Manufacturer | Thrustmaster VG |
| Language | English, French |
| ASIN | B00CBVHJ00 |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | May 13, 2013 |
