Hey there fellas, got allowance from the wife to 200 monetary units for myself this festivities…
Now, while my machine is not really comparable to @BeachAV8R monster it does hold its respectable own so I don’t really need more GPU power or SSD/HDD or RAM.
What I had half a mind to invest in are peripherals.
; nominally proper Rudders. Mine are cheapish SAITEK Pro rudders. Not that bad to blame them for botched landings but not nearly good enough for proper huey action.
I have been eyeing MFG Crosswind for more than I like to admit but are still a little out of budget.
BRD ones are looking quite worthy too and maybe a little more affordable.
So question 1is:
who of you has any of the above or reasonably similary to give me some hints?
That said, if I can’t work my ways through the wife to the pedals I got more options.
So question 2 really is:
would any of you suggest buying Thrustmaster MFD thingies?
what about the SAITEK panels?
And question number 3:
considering I already have Thrustmaster Warthog so my HOTAS needs are satisfiet, what other piece of hardware (no, not the VR headsets, those are way too expensive for me) would you suggest to a Sim-head like you all?
Thanks!
PS: feel free to actually drop any sort of suggestions.
Stupid question- you have a TrackIR already, yes? Because if you don’t, good grief, there’s your answer.
Rudders are a bit of sticky issue, because it seems like your quality is either “entry level” (SAITEK, CH) or “hardcore enthusiast” (Crosswinds). That said my CH Pedals work great for what I fly (modern fighters + blackshark) but I could see the notch in the middle being very annoying for helicopters without the glorious Soviet autopilot and tail draggers.
I have the Thrustmaster MFD things and rarely use them, which is something of a crime, since they’re so nice.
I think they work great on aircraft that have the same MFDs (A-10C, F-16), but they can be put to good use on other aircraft. For example, I’ve mapped the buttons on the bottom row of the right MFD to operate the ABRIS on the Ka-50, which is pretty nice.
They’re about $80 USD, which isn’t awful, but a little high for a handful of buttons, but I’d recommend keeping those on your short list, at least.
On Rudders
Careful with those, they have no toe brakes (toe brakes are the beeest). I just recently came into some Crosswinds after years of CH pedals, and I must say that they are not an unworthy goal to save for: I highly recommend them for their comfort and precision.
On TM MFDs
I’ve got a pair, I never use them for lack of desk space. I remember they were pretty convient for the A-10 and other such MFD equipped aircraft (BMS F-16, VRS F/A-18). I wouldn’t call them necessary, though. @Tyco loves them, he can probably make a more convincing argument
Something I did last year on a laugh was to buy a stick extension for my warthog, and then center mount it. The difference is night and day for things like precision flying and helochoppers. I ended up going with the Kiwi guy who makes them, and then manufacturing my own base using some PVC piping. If you’re handy though, you could probably do the whole thing DIY, and on the cheap. I highly recommend it.
It also costs an arm and a leg for a fleeting experience that won’t be able to deliver on it’s full promise for at least another generation, possibly two.
What’s more not everything needs to be about VR, least of all a thread that specifically asked for suggestions not including VR.
Have the Crosswinds, love them. They’re pricey but in my mind, and many others, they’re worth the investment.
Have the MFDs and they work great when you take the time to set them up for the A-10, F-16, etc, but, like @near_blind, mine have been sitting for a while just because they’re not super convenient if your gaming computer also functions as your work computer and desk space is limited.
Also your setup should allow you to have the monitor close enough while flying to be able to reach/read effectively. Think through how you’d want to mount them, as well. I opted for using some velcro strips and some padding on the corners that would be in contact with the monitor, but I’m sure there’s better ways.
I’m not ready to part with them just yet. My desk space situation will be resolved sooner than later. Also I’m pretty sure shipping alone would cost almost as much as just getting a new set on sale.
But those MFD’s dont come with their own screen estate, right? Main reason I haven’t gotten a pair yet. But if you’d couple with a a small touch screen, and then went crazy with that Helios app… You could do something amazing like having a touch CDU or UFC or something for the third display in the hornet. But I assume that’ll be hard to accomplish within the budget, how do you guys have the MFD’s set up?
Yeah. My main problem is exactly that. once I start thinking how I can resolve stuff suddenly I can add " just one more thing " and the projected expenses balloons immediately
Another idea would actually be to go through my plan and bother @Troll hard enough to teach me and use the budget to actually create my own special ConTrollEr unit.
I would suggest to save the monetary units for later accumulation and then buy the pedals if you really want them. MFG or BRD doesnt matter.
Once you buy them you will realize that you made a right decision. At least the happy owners always says something like that.
Correct. They’re plastic frames with 5(?) buttons on each side, essentially an F-16C MFD.
There are a few ways to do it. The simplest is to prop them up to a second monitor and use Helios or something of the sort to export MFD pages to that real estate. The most bourgeois I’ve seen is buying a pair of small, cheapo android tablets, attaching the MFDs to them and setting them up as display exports.
fwiw When I ran them, it was just as two boxes of plastic.
You’re actually on to something for me with this. I didn’t even know you could use tablets as display exports. I’ll try to see if I can get my tablet to work like this, maybe if komemimute has a tablet as well it could be something for him too.
Aeromechanical is right. If you are flying without TiR5, you are not flying. TiR changed my flying forever.
Another choice I like is the extension and center mount as suggested by nearblind. This sounds GOOOD.
Last year I decided that I was flying too much to be cheap with myself. I brought my Warthog out and bought Slaw Bf-109 Pedals.
The Slaw pedals will go to my son when he graduates college… He is four now. They will outlast anything.
