Fighterstick question

[DREDIOCK]

Was reading the  TM HOTAS review And noted that it was mentioned the stick was heavy.
Didnt want ot hijack that thread so I decided to post the question here.

I have the fighterstick.
Love the stick but the only complaint I have is its base too light and tends to slide across my desk as I use it.
Same thing with the trottle.

Ok heres the  2 part question.

1- I havent opened up either yet as I dont know what Im going ot find if I do.
If I take the bottom off, other then obviously the holes for the screws that hold everything together are other parts going to want to fall out and have to be aligned perfectly in order to put it back togther again.
In short.  Is there anything that the bottoms of these things hold into place?
Or does removing them only provide access to the parts inside?

2 - Is there enough room in the bottom to fill at least part way with plaster in order to give the base more heft without interfering with anything?

the stick and throttle move easy enough so I do not figure I need a ton of weight.
Just enough so that they wont slide as easy.

[Blammo]

1 - The main screws on the bottom of the Fighterstick really only hold the bottom.  You can remove them without to much concern about losing anything, if I remember correctly (been a while since I took mine apart though.

2 - There is a certain amount of room in there, but I don't know if that is your best option.  There are some CH support forums that may come up with better solutions.

Like you, the only thing I really don't like it how light the stick and throttle are.  What I did was the following:

I found a heavy board about 1' x 2.5' x 1/2"

I got some large strips of velcro from Wal - Mart and mounted four "female" (furry) strips on the board and 2 strips of the "male" (spikey) strips on each controller bottom.  Originally I had about 8 female strips on the board so I could move the controllers around, but now I know what is comfortable so I only have the 4.

I then place the controllers on the board over the appropriate strips.

Also, I have one of those trays for the key board and mouse so when I want to fly, I put the keyboard on the desktop, put the board on the tray (so it is at a comfortable height) and put the mouse on the right side of the board).

This works really well for me and when I am not flying I can tuck everything away.  Plus, the board adds enough weight to keep the controllers from sliding all over.

Hope something in this response was helpful.  Good luck!