Fridge, I really look forward to your thoughts on that base.
I finally slid down from the fence and ordered a T-50CM2 base as well. Although I did the smooth and greased ball mod on my TM WH base a few years ago to remove a bit of center point friction, I’d been eyeing the more recent offerings from VKB and Virpil. The CM2 was painfully expensive, especially when I added the MonsterTech adapter for my existing table mounts. It’s hard to believe that I’ve spent the equivalent of a complete Warthog HOTAS on just a former eastern block unobtanium base and a mount. But I suppose that there are more expensive hobbies.
So on the stick side, I should be good-to-go with a TM Hornet grip on a Virpil T-50CM2 base secured to a MonsterTech table mount. FYI, Foxx doesn’t offer a solution for the T-50CM2 yet. Throttle will remain TM WH on a MonsterTech table mount, as I haven’t found anything superior to its design and function.
Sure enough, with the arrival of the VPC Stick and Base, a solution for my VKB issue was suggested on the VKB forums. Spoiler alert … it was previously hinted at here @wheelsup_cavu and @Wes.
At VKB’s direction, I disassembled the base again but this time, I went a step further. After loosening the stopper grub screw it was time to …
Next step? Time to apply some Loctite (Red). This was requested by VKB to stop the Y Axis from apparently spinning. The stopper grub is intended to do the same process but it keeps coming loose; it is a tiny grub that is tightened with a 1mm hex key and I could never, apparently, exert enough force without bending and warping the key itself. Don’t judge me or my arm strength
Later in the evening I connected everything back up, after disconnecting the VPC stick that I have yet to use, and using the VKB Config software: set the stick to default and calibrated it. The calibration went very, very smoothly (much smoother than it had been in recent memory) and the VKB Tester app displayed no anomalous behaviour as I attempted to reproduce the error. Nice!
I started X-Plane and re-flew the flight that opened my eyes to the issue to start with. A JRollon module that has no aileron trim, forcing me to keep the stick slightly left of centre for long periods of time. After two hours I can report that the issue did not show up.
Ah congrats on winning the day and getting it back to normal! The suggestion to loctite the axis too is a good one - although I’d have never thought of it, not knowing how it’s built! Good manufacturer support, who know their product well and don’t pass things off with canned responses is a definite plus to their reputation.
I guess with these beasts being a bit mechanical in nature, some basic mechanical experience, like from say bicycle maintenance or small-engine tools such as chain saws, lawn mowers and snowblowers would definitely be a benefit to any aspiring sim pilot since they all rely on various small fasteners, clips and the like to operate correctly.
