A good friend of mine has been flying with a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro for years, she loves flying the Huey and was sort of looking at an upgrade but a bit bewildered by the first search results.
Budget is 200 Canadian Dollars, and even that might be a bit tricky given the spouse’ say in spending and all. I am sure a lot of you here can sympathise with that problem!
Second hand parts are no problem as long as it works, focus is on flying helicopters like the Huey in DCS and in the future the F-14(don’t we all?) and F-18. Every now and then a bit of a hop in FSX is also happening with the venerable Extreme 3D. So some sort of pedal set is on the list plus, if possible a HOTAS like setup. Not sure how reasonable this is to achieve in one purchase though
I’ve been looking around a bit but I feel like I can achieve much more with the communal brainpower and knowledge on this forum!
The whole shebang is on sale right now from Lord Bezos. If I were looking at buying my first setup right now I’d have a hard time choosing between my current CH Products setup and Thrustmaster’s entry-level ensemble.
I know this isn’t helping with the budget…but if Huey is the focus then pedals really are a huge help, it’s many times more enjoyable than with any twisty stick. So if getting the TM trip is a possibility, that would sort her out really well.
There are a lot of buttons, it might actually be pretty handy. Plus this made me smile
Set and Forget Cruise Control Speed Dial and 37 programmable buttons, give you the flexibility to control your entire farm from just the one controller
I like to think there is a farming forum somewhere, with people getting banned over ‘set and forget cruise control’ fights to the death.
I grew up doing the real thing, I don’t see the need to simulate it now. Got kicked and thrown off enough horses to keep me happy for the rest of my life!
I also have my old X-55 HOTAS I don’t use that could fit the bill - or the joystick anyway: the throttle has frayed wires inside I’ve been thinking of fixing but realistically I’m unlikely to get it done.
It would be an easy task for a friendly neighbourhood technician to fix the throttle if there is one available.
We should check what postage would be like from NZ but I’d be happy to donate the stick (which is good as new) or both throttle and stick for the postage cost. Let me know - cheers
Edit: totally missed that there’s a HOTAS in Paul’s box under the plastic so that’s probably a solution closer to Canada
Honestly driving a big tractor or a combine these days is up there with setting up the A-10C in DCS. Forget cruise control, how about having to initialize your INS and make sure your GPS is ready to go before you start plowing or cutting.
I got my (used) X-52 on eBay for something like 40 USD…works great for helicopter sims. If you grab the throttle more towards the right side where it bends forward, it is a bit more of a collective feel. The centering on the stick is fall light so you can easily hold the stick in the needed position for forward helo flight on those model that don’t have the cyclic trim function…whatever it is called.
