Everyone seems to be oooooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhh over this. I like a few others here like the 3DPro but they die after a few months. For the cost of this setup you can get all CH gear and not have to worry about something breaking in 2 to 6 months
Look, I still use thrustmaster flight gear that is older than some of the pilots we have in AH now, and I have enough spares to last for a few lifetimes, but here are the features, if executed right, are worth getting excited about:
1. "Contactless pots." Probably means hall-effect sensors. Should be super-precise and jitter-free, not to mention maintenance free as well.
2. Force Feedback. If done properly, this could be interesting. My 1st-generation Force Feedback steering wheel from Logitech (the one with the steel cables) is outstanding, and in GPL and other hard-core driving sims, these are the coveted wheels that generate better "road awareness" and faster lap times.
3. Three Electronic trim wheels on the stick's base. Excellent.
4. The bases have bolt-holes for serious mounting on a desk or cockpit. I'm guessing the force feedback is pretty serious if they decided to add bolt-holes.
5. Split throttle. Never played with one, but it sounds neat.
6. 8 extra buttons on the base of the throttle. Handy for controls that don't need to be on the stick, but are nice to have off the keyboard. The arresting hook or fuel-tank switching comes to mind.
7. Those 8 extra buttons can be programmed to light up in different colors. This might allow for some interesting "status light" ideas. Maybe one can be red when the gear is down, for example.
8. Toe brakes and adjustable tension on the normal movement of the rudder pedals. My old CH pedals don't do all that.
That said, I do see some disadvantages too:
A. Logitech Build Quality. It's been spotty over the years. Some are great. Some suck.
B. Not enough hats, but.... My FLCS and F-22's all have 4 hats on them, and this only has 2. That said, now that a lot of guys are using the Track-IR for views, hats might be a lot less important than they once were. I used to use 2 of my 4 hats for views, and now I don't use those hats at all anymore with my TrackIR. The third hat is used for Trimming the plane, but this new stick has trim wheels. I only use the 4th hat for the different radio channels and flaps, and two hats should be plenty.
C. Force Feedback. Is AH really capable of giving me useful information via force feedback? Can I feel a stall coming on any better than I can hear the stall horn or see it coming? Does the stick shake when firing guns, and doesn't the shaking actually REDUCE my aiming ability?
I think the potential for positives at least warrant checking it out and reading real world reviews of it in AH before dismissing it out of hand as garbage.
-Llama
