I think you are I have always had a couple of them. For me they last about 1 1/2 years with absolutely no trouble.. Then I have to send it in from refurb. I fly with the other when one goes into the shop.
CH used to be good about reburb's. Now you need to make sure you get a qoute before you send it in. I've seen $70 dollar quotes and you can almost buy a new stick for that price. You can generally replace pots without sending the stick in for repairs but I'd think twice about replacing the Hat. You need a fine soldiering gun and a magnifying glass to get the job done. The good news is the hat normally last for years. I used to have all TM gear and my hat lasted, on average, 3 months. Back then TM would send you free replacement parts and even pay for shipping. Because of this they had a huge following. I think they got bought out around 7-10 years ago and under new ownwership came out with a HOTAS setup that cost around $380. They pushed the hard pull as being part of the immersion factor. All it had was around an 18 pound pull. Most people fixed that in a hurry but ended up spending more to get it the way they wanted. The days of free replacement parts are long gone. IMHO, for the money CH is 100% better. You buy the gear, you plug it in, you fly. No problems.
The real question for a lot of people is. Can I find a stick that does what the CH stuff does at a cheaper price? Yes, you can if you settle for twisty stick rudders and a few less buttons. And for a lot less money. So much less that you could probably buy and throw away 10 sticks for the cost of the CH setup. I quess that raises the question....If I plan to fly for the next 10 years and I go the cheap route I save alot now and still get a good stick or spend all the money knowing Im gonna have to spend more for a refurb on it from time to time. And, if I go cheap now I spend little for a stick and have an opportunity to get maybe some bigger, better stick that hasn't even been built yet but might be available in a another year or 2. Or, this is a passing fancy and I have no idea if I'm gonna even want to be flying sims in a year. If that's the case don't waste $300 on a CH setup unless you don't mind tossing yer money in for fun.
Let your budget be your guide. By the same token, if you can afford to play golf once a week at the normal $40 a round. Then don't play for 3 weeks and go get yerself a CH Fighterstick
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I personally have been using the CH F16 Fighterstick and Pro Throttle for around 7-8 years now. My rudders are 13 year old TM's that I replace the pots and springs every year or so. Prior to that I used only TM products. IMHO, they blew it when the prices went outa sight for the same basic product then didn't support it anymore.
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Ren
The Damned
