Author Topic: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter  (Read 3628 times)

Offline streakeagle

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #15 on: March 29, 2020, 07:46:44 PM »
For the record, the Kosmosima SCG Pro has more controls than any of the other grips except for the MCG Pro. Yet the arrangement of the hats/switches is very similar to all of the other US teen fighter grips, so you can emulate their control options and still have some hats and switches leftover for other functions, plus the bonus twist axis if you need it. It is a very comfortable grip, more than the MCG Pro whose controls are almost too far apart to be easily reached without adjusting your hand up or down. Despite liking the SCG Pro quite a bit, I usually use the MCG Pro for flying Russian jets and the other grips for their associated jets (A-10C/F-16, F/A-18C/F-15C/AV-B, F-14). So that leaves the SCG Pro unused most of the time.
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Offline Ack-Ack

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #16 on: May 30, 2020, 10:55:35 PM »
Replacing my MCG Pro with the SCG Premier Pro, should be arriving very soon along with new computer.
"If Jesus came back as an airplane, he would be a P-38." - WW2 P-38 pilot
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Offline atlau

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #17 on: May 31, 2020, 07:41:11 PM »
Replacing my MCG Pro with the SCG Premier Pro, should be arriving very soon along with new computer.

So far I'm liking the SCG pro. Looking back the regular SCG would have been just as good for me.

Offline streakeagle

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #18 on: May 31, 2020, 09:09:08 PM »
So far I'm liking the SCG pro. Looking back the regular SCG would have been just as good for me.

The SCG Pro has a key feature that makes it a lot better for me: the hat switch on the lower left side of the grip. If you fly jets, a lot of sticks have at least a fwd, aft, and center depress button in that position. The left and right positions become bonus buttons. I bought the non-Pro version because I intend to gut it to allow me to adapt a real B-8 grip into a VKB compatible grip. But I liked it so much, I bought the pro to get the full functionality I would need to mimic grips like the F-5E, which is a lot like a B-8, but with the fwd/ctr depress/aft switch for selecting air-to-air radar lockon modes. But I tend to use the F/A-18 grip or the F-14 grip for US aircraft or the MCG Pro grip as a universal grip for all aircraft, so both my SCG and SCG Pro are collecting dust for the moment.
i5(4690K) MAXIMUS VII HERO(32 Gb RAM) GTX1080(8 Gb RAM) Win10 Home (64-bit)
OUR MISSION: PROTECT THE FORCE, GET THE PICTURES, ...AND KILL MIGS!

Offline turt21

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #19 on: June 01, 2020, 10:13:44 AM »
Curiously what might you guess what you would have invested?

Offline Chilli

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #20 on: June 04, 2020, 02:24:03 AM »
Streakeagle I like the setup with the floppy ears and 2 green leds best. Keep the feet warm on those long bomber runs.  :salute

Offline streakeagle

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #21 on: June 07, 2020, 09:22:19 PM »
Curiously what might you guess what you would have invested?

I have a good memory and if that failed, I have all of my online orders documented in my email account. But I don't really want to think about it. The money was spread over a lot of years. Since 2008, I have had a job that has an hourly wage and I get paid time and half for overtime. So, I usually pace my purchases to match my overtime, typically getting things like a new gpu. Some of the most expensive stuff I have is the real F-4 Phantom hardware and the seat/console I built around that hardware. I have two real B-8 grips and they were $500 each. I have the real stick for $500 that matches the connector on one of the grips (which is the reason I bought a 2nd grip, to get the correct milspec multipin adapter). Ejection seat hardware is very expensive and a real complete seat is very heavy, too. So, I built one around some real components: survival pack/lower seat cushion, lumbar back pad, parachute pack/headrest, and the metal backplate that holds parachute pack and supports lumbar pad. Each one of those items is about $100 minimum. I didn't go cheap on the seat or console either. The wood is very good wood and I used a ton of screws. I wanted this thing to be sturdy and survive years of climbing in and out of it. So far, it has held up well. Probably somewhere between $300 and $600 in the wood and hardware.

Recently, I decided to commit to the throttle levers and surrounding panels, which are available from the same place I got most of my ejection seat hardware: https://www.flighthelmet.com/ I was in the process of trying to build a fully functional throttle quadrant around the throttle levers when I stumbled on to an F-101 Voodoo throttle quadrant on eBay for an exceptionally low price compared to the very scarce F-4 throttles (been searching for years!). I immediately recognized that it was almost identical to the F-4's throttle, so I bought it. The levers fit perfectly. The mechanical operation is almost identical and with a small, non-damaging modification, I am going to make it virtually identical.

In order to keep flying while working on the console, I got the WinWing Hornet HOTAS that has desk mounts. My Warthog throttle will be integrated into the F-4 throttle operation. In the mean time, my console has been replaced by the desk clamp Hornet throttle with the surrounding panels. Covid-19 plus bad weather gave me a ton of overtime and the Hornet HOTAS ate a big chunk of it. But now I am still flying every night AND moving forward on my F-4 throttle project. I intend to restore the real F-4 stick to operation to go with the throttle. So, I will have a desk-clamp setup for routine flying (especially more modern aircraft) and my F-4 console/chair/stick for flying F-4s and any aircraft old enough to have similar or less controls. For now, both will use the same computer, tv monitor, and VR headset. But eventually, I will make the F-4 setup with a full main control panel with its own PC, TV, and VR headset... but that is probably at least a year or two away. Everything I have done was spread out over a lot of years.

The VKB stick base and associated grips will remain the heart of my desk system matched with the WinWing throttle/startup panel. But the F-4 project will get a Warthog throttle and stick base with some creative modifications to interface with the real hardware. If DCS World ever gets around to finishing and releasing the F-4E Belsimtek started before ED hijacked them into the current development cycle, I will go full tilt to get the F-4 pit as complete as possible fabricating reasonable substitutes for anything I can't find or afford to buy. A real control panel is out of the question... but a lookalike backed by LCD screens is on the table.



« Last Edit: June 07, 2020, 09:40:28 PM by streakeagle »
i5(4690K) MAXIMUS VII HERO(32 Gb RAM) GTX1080(8 Gb RAM) Win10 Home (64-bit)
OUR MISSION: PROTECT THE FORCE, GET THE PICTURES, ...AND KILL MIGS!

Offline Arlo

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #22 on: June 08, 2020, 07:30:53 AM »
Wow. (Not wordy but it sums up my reaction in a positive way.)  :cheers:

Offline turt21

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #23 on: June 08, 2020, 09:12:54 AM »
MAny Thanks SreikeEagle. I would assume the marrying of all the different systems would be a real challenge.

Offline Gman

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #24 on: June 08, 2020, 12:28:12 PM »
Wow. (Not wordy but it sums up my reaction in a positive way.)  :cheers:

+1, I've been looking through flighthelmet dot com and other sites with used and/or decomissioned hotas/instruments/etc for the last hour myself. 
« Last Edit: June 08, 2020, 12:29:57 PM by Gman »

Offline whiteman

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #25 on: June 08, 2020, 01:01:51 PM »
DHL just showed up, and delivered my stronghold for my stick. For some reason the stick is held up in Cincinnati. I’m basically in Houston.

Offline Arlo

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #26 on: June 08, 2020, 01:18:08 PM »
+1, I've been looking through flighthelmet dot com and other sites with used and/or decomissioned hotas/instruments/etc for the last hour myself.

Wow. Pricey stuff! If only I held on to the helmet and mask I had in my youth.




Offline streakeagle

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #27 on: June 08, 2020, 05:21:57 PM »
DHL just showed up, and delivered my stronghold for my stick. For some reason the stick is held up in Cincinnati. I’m basically in Houston.

That sucks! Originally, VKB stuff was hard to catch in stock and usually took awhile to get here. But my lately, they have been keeping stock pretty much topped off and delivering very quickly.
i5(4690K) MAXIMUS VII HERO(32 Gb RAM) GTX1080(8 Gb RAM) Win10 Home (64-bit)
OUR MISSION: PROTECT THE FORCE, GET THE PICTURES, ...AND KILL MIGS!

Offline streakeagle

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #28 on: June 08, 2020, 05:28:37 PM »
Wow. Pricey stuff! If only I held on to the helmet and mask I had in my youth.

(Image removed from quote.)

I remember all the vietnam era stuff that used to be at the flea market and army surplus store for practically nothing. Over time, the supply has gotten smaller and the demand has gotten higher, mix in using the internet to reach a global market such as eBay and you get those high prices :(

Recently, an old Vietnam era F-4 pilot had died and the family was selling off all of his flight gear: helmet, boots, flight suit, gloves. It was at a really good price, too. I was tempted. But the money was better saved for later so I could jump on the F-101 throttle when it popped up and later get the WinWing hotas. But a having a dummy dressed up as a real Vietnam F-4 pilot would be cool. If the helmet actually fit me, that would be even better.
i5(4690K) MAXIMUS VII HERO(32 Gb RAM) GTX1080(8 Gb RAM) Win10 Home (64-bit)
OUR MISSION: PROTECT THE FORCE, GET THE PICTURES, ...AND KILL MIGS!

Offline Ack-Ack

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Re: New Handle "Kosmosim" for Gladiator Pro and Gunfighter
« Reply #29 on: June 08, 2020, 07:05:43 PM »
That sucks! Originally, VKB stuff was hard to catch in stock and usually took awhile to get here. But my lately, they have been keeping stock pretty much topped off and delivering very quickly.

After my mistake, VKB is sending me the correct handle. They shipped it on Friday and just got an update the handle will arrive on Thursday.
"If Jesus came back as an airplane, he would be a P-38." - WW2 P-38 pilot
Elite Top Aces +1 Mexican Official Squadron Song