A Squadron mate asked me to write this tutorial since he has just bought some rudder pedals and found the twist stick now annoying. I thought this might be beneficial to the community as a whole.
This is the best method I have found for permanently locking the twist grip rudder on a Microsoft Force Feedback 2 Sidewinder joystick.
Please don't be perturbed by the length of this tutorial and the number of photographs. I have tried to pitch the level of the instructions so that anyone can do it. Someone who is adept with tools and disassembling / reassembling could probably skip through this very quickly.
You will need the following tools:
A sharp knife, of any kind
A Philips #2 screwdriver
A Philips #1 screwdriver
A flat bladed screwdriver
some TP for its bunghole
a cotton bud / tip
Some electrical sidecutters
Some gel type Superglue (Loctite) OR two part epoxy (Araldite).
I am obliged to say this tutorial is presented for your use at your own risk. I cannot be held responsible for any damage or injury as a consequence of following this tutorial. Remember the usual tricks, check twice, cut or screw once, keep your meat behind any sharp cutting edges, Prior Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance and so on. Lay your tools out and work neatly. This will be quicker in the long run.
First, remove the five screws which hold the two halves of the joystick handle together and lay them to one side.
The screws are all the same size so do need to note which one came from where.
Gently separate the two halves of the handle by pulling the right side away from the left side. Many plastic parts such as your trigger and hat switch top will probably fall out onto your table. Lay those aside also.
Next lift off the left hand side of the handle and inspect how the twisty grip part functions. You will notice the two prongs of the centring spring & that this whole area is covered in white grease. Also note the potentiometer which sits directly on top of the shaft.
There is a circuit board at the front edge of the joystick handle. This is the optical dead man's switch, which turns off the motor feeds when you aren't gripping the stick, be careful not to bent the two LED-like components at either end of this board.
Carefully invert the joystick so you can get at the bottom.
Slip a sharp knife down the side of the rubber feet and lever them off. They are stuck down with adhesive which can be reused if you carefully lay the feet to one side, sticky side up. Try not to touch the sticky side.
There are eight in total.
Loosen each of the eight circumferential screws in turn and then fully unscrew them and lay them to one side. They are all identical so no need to keep them in any order.
Now the only tricky part of the operation, removing the three centre screws that help support the gimbal. They aren't anti-tamper screws as such, let's call them tamper-discouraging screws. They are basically modified Phillips heads which encourage the driver to slip when trying to loosen them. Check your screwdriver bit fits without wobbling. I found the best technique was to press forward and give a tiny twist at the same time, probably pressing down twice as hard as I twisted. They should loosen fairly easily just ensure you don't damage the screwheads otherwise you will not be able to progress. Lay these three screws aside also.
Now lift off the bottom plate. You will see two green circuit boards a gimbal in the centre and two largish electric motors. Do not be alarmed, we are only visiting here.
Trace the wire that emerges from the centrepoint of the gimbal. This is the flipside of the wire that disappears down the centre shaft from the top of the joystick. This ribbon cable carries the signals from your hat and trigger and so on.
It is the widest connector on that board and is labelled 'HANDLE' in white capitol letters. Carefully lever off the connector with a flat-bladed screwdriver. Do not tug on the wires!
Now carefully roll some of the ribbon cable around the connector and encourage it to turn sideways. This is best explained by examining the photograph.
Carefully guide the connector down (up, actually, if the stick was the right way up) the central tube gently and steadily pull from the top end until...
Voila! The ribbon cable and connector come away from the joystick base.
Now remove the lid from the centering spring housing with a little encouragement from a flat-bladed screwdriver. It is only loosely attached.
Slide it off the top of the black tube and lay it aside on a piece of TP.
Keep the white grease away from fabrics and wooden surfaces. Now wriggle the spring out of its housing by compressing both ends with thumb and forefinger. Lift it off the tube and lay it on the TP. Now use TP to clean the grease off, it will no longer be needed and will interfere with gluing. A cotton bud / Q-tip whatever you call it can be used to remove the grease from the spring housing.
Replace the spring housing lid back in place, now without the spring and without any grease.
If you press here (the position indicated by the tip of the tweezers) with your finget tip, it will click softly into place.
...by way of this small latch underneath:-
