CH Products (A-10 HOTAS) Picture!

[Ack-Ack]

Golly-gee, $20,000.00! Ack-Ack, did you use gold plating to make those molds back then?

I was a little suprised at the cost when I was shown the molds (it's actually two molds for each half of the stick) and the sheer size of the molds.  I would have thought for a joystick mold, it wouldn't really be that big of a mold but I was definitely wrong.  I don't remember the exact dimensions but it was about the size of a medium to large box and weighed over 500 pounds.  From what I was told, most of the cost was for the metals and the machining of the new mold.  For a small family owned company, $20 grand is a lot to spend. 

Now that they are no longer family owned and bought out by some large Euro company, maybe they have the money now to change the designs of the Fightertick and Combatstick.


ack-ack

[SIK1]

$20k is cheap for an injection mold of that size.

[Reschke]

I was going to say exactly what SIK1 said here; injection molding and only spending $20k for the molds on sticks is a super cheap deal. Yes the other aspects of it that they have to do like machining the parts once they come out for final fit and finish is going to eat away at the overall profit but I can guarantee that with the sheer numbers of fightersticks that have been sold for $100 each in the last 12 years those molds have more than paid for themselves a few times over.

[Kazaa]

I was a little suprised at the cost when I was shown the molds (it's actually two molds for each half of the stick) and the sheer size of the molds.  I would have thought for a joystick mold, it wouldn't really be that big of a mold but I was definitely wrong.  I don't remember the exact dimensions but it was about the size of a medium to large box and weighed over 500 pounds.  From what I was told, most of the cost was for the metals and the machining of the new mold.  For a small family owned company, $20 grand is a lot to spend.  

Now that they are no longer family owned and bought out by some large Euro company, maybe they have the money now to change the designs of the Fightertick and Combatstick.


ack-ack

Dam, I never knew moulds could be so expensive.

[Reschke]

Dam, I never knew moulds could be so expensive.

Only initial start up costs for cheap skates like us think that is expensive. Its really cheap when compared to the rest of the manufacturing process and how much money goes into the rest of the design. Although I think the design has more than paid for itself a few dozen times over.

[Kazaa]

I guess all you would need to do is sell 200 sticks before you started to make a profit.

[stickpig]

Which stick is more widely used? Fighter stick or Combat stick?

[Masherbrum]

I agree. Whilst the CH Fighterstick is way ahead of - for example - the Saitek X52 in terms of quality, the X52 layout is much more ergonomic IMHO. Realism is all very good, but just because a layout matches the F-16 or whatever doesn't mean it can't be bettered.

My X-52 lasted a whole six months.   Lost the Throttle pot itself (had to use the slider on the Throttle, for throttle).   I lost two hat switches on the Stick, lost the trigger.

There is no comparison between the Saitek Sticks and the CH Fighterstick, I've had for the last 1.5 years.   No comparison.   

[bmwgs]

My X-52 lasted a whole six months.   Lost the Throttle pot itself (had to use the slider on the Throttle, for throttle).   I lost two hat switches on the Stick, lost the trigger.

There is no comparison between the Saitek Sticks and the CH Fighterstick, I've had for the last 1.5 years.   No comparison.   

I agree.  I had my X53 for 8 months before I lost the use of one of the hat switches.  I constantly had a problem with it spiking, no matter what the scaling was.  Went to a CH Fighterstick and couldn't be happier.

Fred

[Pongo]

I was going to say,
the more "ergonomic" designs that people like do not happen in a vacuum.  Part of the reliablility of the CH stuff is undoubtedly tied to the generous internal room allowed by their "un ergonomic" design. I have big hands and I like it fine, but I can see that smaller hand people would be challenged by it.

As the design gets more ergonomic, and more buttons and wigets get added the interior gets more challenging to design and wire in a way that is relatively(consumer) inexpensive to manufacture and reliable in operation.
CH has had hands down the best combination of those considerations for years and years now. All the other companies sticks fit the hand better and look more fancy. I have had them all, but they are all crap compared to the CH stuff.

[stickpig]

Which stick (layout) is more compareable to an X52?
Fighter stick or Combat stick?

[Kazaa]

Which stick (layout) is more compareable to an X52?
Fighter stick or Combat stick?

Neither.

The fighter stick has two extra 4 way hats over the combat sticks. One replaces the thumb button and the other replaces the bottom right button, on the head.

[Reschke]

Which stick is more widely used? Fighter stick or Combat stick?

I wouldn't know what to say to this but I do believe that both the Fighterstick and the Combatstick would use the same mould.

[SIK1]

I wouldn't know what to say to this but I do believe that both the Fighterstick and the Combatstick would use the same mould.

Yes, same stick different button configuration.

[Ack-Ack]

I wouldn't know what to say to this but I do believe that both the Fighterstick and the Combatstick would use the same mould.

I think they used two seperate molds like they did with the old CH Yokes.

ack-ack