I Want To Like Winwing But

Hardware & Tech Questions
1

Every time my interest peaks in their products they find a way to push me away.

I have a VIRPIL HOTAS setup at the moment and I am happy.

I have been playing flight games, online, since the late 90s. I played Red Baron, MFS, Janes Combat, F-16/Mig-29, and my favorite was the Microsoft CFS series.

I played them all with the Microsoft Sidewinder, the first one I had didn’t even have a USB connection, it had one of those old data port connections (or whatever it was called).

I’ve had numerous in between the Sidewinder and the VIRPIL and I’m always looking to try new things.

But it seems each time my interest peaks there is always something just turns me away.

The latest happened yesterday. I emailed them and asked about the twist adaptor for the stick.

I asked if/when it would be back in stock and instead of receiving an answer I received this long paragraph of incoherent babble. And before you state it is because of the language barrier I will argue that point is moot.

For starters an international company should have someone that speaks basic English and can answer a question, if not that’s what Google translate is for, Additionally that would be even more reason for the answer to be short and concise.

Instead I received an answer only a politician would give and be proud of that basically doesn’t answer the question and doesn’t obligate Winwing to anything. It was comical but sad.

What is your experience?

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2

I’m considering purchasing from them when I’m ready to move on (or perhaps expand) from the TM Warthog, but I definitely have reservations based primarily on their location.

My opinions are just that, and aren’t based on my first-hand interactions, so I’m sure there are others on here that can speak more to that experience than I can.

There definitely seems to be a bit of a cultural disconnect between the company and their customers, and the distance alone must make providing customer support challenging.

Some of this does seem like it could be addressed by a regional distribution center handling local support, but I’m not sure if that’s in their plan if what they’re doing is working for them.

All this being said, their quality - from what I’ve seen and heard - has exceeded my expectations and, unfortunately, Thrustmaster seems uninterested in competing with them, or perhaps is unable to due production cost differences between the two markets. Their focus lately has been more on the MSFS crowd rather than the comparatively smaller DCS market, as evidenced by the fact that we have an F-18 stick but still no throttle to go with it. Given that my Warthog has been going strong for nearly 13 years, I would be happy to give TM another buy if they released the Hornet throttle, even at a higher price point than Winwing, and yet… here we are.

I know Virpil makes great products but personally I prefer for more western-style design for the HOTAS and overall form, so they haven’t interested me as much.

Ultimately if you’re in the market for a new, especially aircraft-specific, HOTAS setup, I think it would be hard not to go with Winwing.

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3

Unfortunately no twist axis is a deal breaker for me.

Maybe one day that will change but for now I have to have a twist axis.

4

I’ve had a good experience so far. Fortunately, no issues that required support so I haven’t had to put their customer service to the test.

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5

Certain things come and go from their site, fast, so it’s probably better to just check daily for an in stock label and order then.
I’ve used pedals for 25 years and just always locked the twist grips on my sticks so I’m happy there weren’t there by default because too many times I had erroneous inputs from them.

There is a language/culture barrier, no doubt, and while their stuff is a little rougher around the edges than some of their competitors I am super happy with build quality and such for the few years I’ve had their stuff (2 stick bases, 2 throttle bases, 5 grips)

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6

My experience with Winwing is I preordered a throttle from them and it arrived on roughly the timeframe they said it would, was complete and has worked properly for over a year now.

Their software is pretty awful, I think, though every time I use it there is an update available that fixes something so there’s that.

My experience with Virpil is that I bought a stick grip from them that arrived in a reasonable timeframe, had questions about a project I was conducting (adding a modern stick grip to a G940 force feedback base) to which they responded promptly - and the second person who responded was a technical person who worked out what I needed and sold me a controller chip for a reasonable price without me having to buy and essentially throw away a whole joystick base to get the electronics (Hi Thrustmaster :stuck_out_tongue: ).

With the caveat that all that happened before all the upset with the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which may have affected Virpil as they were based in Belarus when I was dealing with them, I’d say Winwing is your normal 2020s online dealer, whereas Virpil is a traditional company where if you can get the customer service person to forward your request to someone who knows how to answer it, they’ll go over and above trying to help you to get the sale.

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7

I have had a good experience … so far. I have not encountered any issues with my throttle, F-16 ICP, F-18 centre stack (UFC, switch bar, centre MFD) and … whatever they call the take off panel V2. All work well, and the software works well.

No complaints, but I have also had no issues.

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8

I converted from TM to Virpil before WinWing was in the market, but kept my TM grips since I preferred them over MiG / Sukhoi designs. I mostly fly Western aircraft.

Although it took a while, Virpil’s software is pretty solid, and all of the TM grip’s buttons and switches work as they did on the WH bases. The TM Hornet grip is aesthetically and ergonomic pleasing to me and it works well with my Virpil base and 200 mm curved extension. I wouldn’t change a thing.

But as much I like the Hornet grip, some aircraft (Warthog, Viper, AH-64, Kiowa) just work better with the Viper/Warthog layout. My original TM WH grip is still functioning, but the trigger and buttons are beginning to get sticky. The paint is beginning to fade and I never like how the lever blocks the pinky button. I ordered a Tianhang F-16 Classic Grip, which reportedly works fine on the Virpil base and software.

The WinWing gear sure is sexy, and they seemingly have most Western aircraft covered. It will be interesting to see how their FFB stick base stacks up against the others.

I only fly in VR, but I bet that I could get some muscle memory activated around the Hornet and Viper UFCs. Those things look brilliant.

But some complaints in the design, like the short throw of their Viper throttle and issues with customer service worry me. And their bases are certainly NOT compatible with TM or Virpil grips.

FWIW, the Virpil build quality has been excellent for the most part. I did have one 5-way switch break, but it was more my ham-fisted usage than a design flaw.

The Tianhang grip reviews are stellar, but I definitely took a risk sending them (him) funds without a longer track record. It’s been a month without any shipment or other communication after the email I received with the order. The F-16 base looks like the work of an evil genius.

I’ve been sitting on the Viper module since release other than a few sightseeing flights, but sworn to dive into it once the new grip arrives in order to fly the @Baltic_Dragon’s The Gamblers Campaign. That’s bound to be good.

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9

I’ve found annoying issues with all the major players; WinWing, VIrpil, TM.

My Rudder pedals (MFG) and my 25 Year old CH Fighter Stick are the only two I have never had a complaint with. The CH stick isn’t as precise but still 100% functional. Just missing some extras buttons.

Think I’m going to wait for the FF dust to settle then find one of those, assuming it has a ‘no force’ setting (not sure the word) that works for helicopters too.

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10

I have 3 MFD’s/screens, F-16 ICP, and the PTO 2. They work fine- as long as I don’t use simappro to bind buttons.

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11

I don’t ‘flight sim’ enough these days to justify the expense of replacing my (still working just fine after over a decade of use) Warthog on a whim.

Hopefully when I do, that dust will have settled and will be my deciding factor as well.

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