andybody have wingwin gear? How does it compare to VKB?

[hazmatt]

https://winwingsim.com/view/

[steely07]

I've got their F16 stick and throttle, but I only use the throttle and use my Virpil WarBrd stick.

The Winwing stick is fine quality-wise etc, I just found it a little bit stiffly sprung for my tastes.

[hazmatt]

You would think the springs could be adjusted.

So the quality is equal with the switches and stuff?

Which is the best bang for the buck between Wingwin VKB and Virpil? Seems Virpil is the most affordable unless I'm wrong.

[xanax]

What are doing to me, Hazmatt? I just bought a bag of candy and now you池e walking me past another candy store.
That gear looks super good and sturdy, btw. You have some studying to do before making a final decision it seems.
I知 looking at all the pedals in all the candy shops now.

[hazmatt]

What are doing to me, Hazmatt? I just bought a bag of candy and now you池e walking me past another candy store.
That gear looks super good and sturdy, btw. You have some studying to do before making a final decision it seems.
I知 looking at all the pedals in all the candy shops now.

Ooops!

I was reading about it on the IL2 forums. It looks very expensive to me compared to VKB. Just wanted to get another opinion lol.

From all the research I've done VKB is the best bang for the buck. The others look nice if you have money to burn. Kinda like buying a 4090 I guess.

[xanax]

Ooops!

I was reading about it on the IL2 forums. It looks very expensive to me compared to VKB. Just wanted to get another opinion lol.

From all the research I've done VKB is the best bang for the buck. The others look nice if you have money to burn. Kinda like buying a 4090 I guess.

If I ever wear out or break this VKB stuff, I知 going all metal next time. The all or mostly metal stuff looks really nice and sturdy from all these companies. Expensive but probably a couple lifetimes of use built in.

[hazmatt]

If I ever wear out or break this VKB stuff, I知 going all metal next time. The all or mostly metal stuff looks really nice and sturdy from all these companies. Expensive but probably a couple lifetimes of use built in.

What worries me is will the buttons and stuff wear out. Seems TM, Logitech, Saitek etc have all gone with the cheapest buttons ever made and they seem to wear out after a year or two or start having that twitching twist axis like a couple of the TM products I bought did. I for one will never buy another piece of TM gear. I consider it all garbage now so I have to find something I can afford.

[Animl-AW]

What worries me is will the buttons and stuff wear out. Seems TM, Logitech, Saitek etc have all gone with the cheapest buttons ever made and they seem to wear out after a year or two or start having that twitching twist axis like a couple of the TM products I bought did. I for one will never buy another piece of TM gear. I consider it all garbage now so I have to find something I can afford.

I noticed the same. Buttons clicking every time used would make me crazy(er)
I知 going Virpril asap. Last resort VKB.

[Gman]

If I ever wear out or break this VKB stuff, I知 going all metal next time. The all or mostly metal stuff looks really nice and sturdy from all these companies. Expensive but probably a couple lifetimes of use built in.

Virpil makes a metal grip that's very nice, expensive though at close to 300 bones.  What I used to do was put one of my many Thrustmaster Warthog A10/F16ish metal grips on a Virpil Warbrd base, and ended up with probably the least expensive - but awesome - metal stick and base.  If you ever decide to go such a route PM me, I have 4 or 5 WH sticks and a couple Cougar sticks (metal as well, but the pinky switch is in a superior spot than the Warthog stick's is), which work with the Virpil bases too.

VKB also has the excellent Gunfighter IV Ultimate, which as a stick using mostly some sort of strong aluminum, and the base is obviously mostly metal already.  Great option, over 500 dollars, but they ship FAST, last VKB order I got I put in on a Friday about 3am mst in Canada, and on Tuesday the courier was banging on my door.  Impressive.  Great stick too, I use this very stick as my CH replacement for AH specifically as I don't use desk clamps or mounts for AH - not as accurate a shot unless my forearm is on the table the stick is on. 

Winwing I don't have nearly as much experience with as I do VKB and Virpil, and Slaw too I suppose - but I do have a couple sticks/bases and their general throttle that accepts different plane handles, which I have the Hornet and Falcon handles for.  It's not bad, not as much finesse I find with their sticks as the competitors, throttles are very good IMO.  Their customer service is...well, poor compared to VKB and Virpil in my limited experience.  Forums are filled with complaints about this with Winwing as are all the social media platforms.  Some of that may be unfair or even unfounded, but it's a lot more noise than VKB/Virpil, and that's a fact.  I think VKB is easily, easily worth the extra $ as is Virpil compared to Winwing.  Winwing does make some cool up front control panels that most of the other "big" semicustom HOTAS makers don't do yet.  I've yet to try those.

[streakeagle]

I have had good luck with WinWing, but others have not. The issues are with quality control in the rush to get products out the customers. It also seems like their customer service is hit and miss. Some people have gotten quick resolutions to their problems, while others can't get WinWing to acknowledge them at all.

I have most of their hardware other than the Orion stick. Their original Hornet stick couldn't match my VKB Gunfighter Pro, but I use nearly all of their other products. I also never got around to getting the collective. The Hornet throttle was their best product, but it was discontinued with the possibility it is going to be replaced by an updated version.

The biggest problem in recent history was long delays and high costs for shipping from China, which they have finally solved by having distributors in Europe, Canada, and the USA.

I have had only one thing outright break: the plasticoated label for the "LI" (Left Inner) station selection pushbutton on the weapons control panel. It didn't affect functionality and I can't see it when I am in VR, so I never tried to get help to fix it.

Their habit of turning pushbuttons into hat swtiches with center depress is extremely useful. However, I recently got the Orion 2 throttle with F-15EX grips when they had a sale and these hats are rather unreliable for continuous presses. For instance, in many cases I only need the center depress, but I have difficulty getting it to register and even more difficulty if it needs to be maintained. I did not have this problem with their original Hornet throttle and grips (the Super Taurus).

Overall, I don't regret any of my WinWing purchases because I haven't had any of the problems others have had. But VKB and Virpil seem to be better in both consistent quality and customer support when there is a problem.

If you are building an F/A-18 Hornet cockpit for DCS World, WinWing can't be beat. Beyond the stick I don't use and the throttle I absolutely love, the MFDs and UFC are outstanding. Combined with the semi-real weapons panel and takeoff panel, this whole setup provides amazing controls even if you aren't flying the Hornet.

[streakeagle]

This is a photo of all of my WinWing hardware before getting the Orion 2 throttle. The stick is the VKB Gunfighter Pro 2 upgraded to the 3 with the Modern Combat Grip Ultimate.

[potsNpans]

Beautiful set up. I've just moved up to the VKB, and am impressed with their quick shipping. Hardware MCG pro is top notch. Lots of springs a few cams and axis dampeners to find your sweet spot, and the software is very powerful to use. I liked the idea of the duel cams they have on Virpil and WinWing. I believe all upgraded Plastic grips are industrial grade. I almost got the F-16 WinWing as I moved from the CH gear stick. The warbird grip is on the list.

[xanax]

Virpil makes a metal grip that's very nice, expensive though at close to 300 bones.  What I used to do was put one of my many Thrustmaster Warthog A10/F16ish metal grips on a Virpil Warbrd base, and ended up with probably the least expensive - but awesome - metal stick and base.  If you ever decide to go such a route PM me, I have 4 or 5 WH sticks and a couple Cougar sticks (metal as well, but the pinky switch is in a superior spot than the Warthog stick's is), which work with the Virpil bases too.

VKB also has the excellent Gunfighter IV Ultimate, which as a stick using mostly some sort of strong aluminum, and the base is obviously mostly metal already.  Great option, over 500 dollars, but they ship FAST, last VKB order I got I put in on a Friday about 3am mst in Canada, and on Tuesday the courier was banging on my door.  Impressive.  Great stick too, I use this very stick as my CH replacement for AH specifically as I don't use desk clamps or mounts for AH - not as accurate a shot unless my forearm is on the table the stick is on. 

Thanks, Gman. Yeah the Gunfighter IV Ultimate is at the top of my list. I too have had great service and shipping from VKB as I placed an order recently for a throttle quadrant and from Communist China to my door in Southwest Washington was 4 days.
Definitely setting aside my paper route and lawn mowing earnings towards the GF Ultimate.

[hazmatt]

Thank for all the great info. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to get on my budget but I know one thing for sure is that I'm done with that TM Logitech etc trash.

[Gman]

StreakEagle - wow, that's fantastic, well, well done sir.  Quite jealous of that setup right now - missus hates you as well, hah hah, as she knows  more $ on my crack habit of hotas collecting is going out the door shortly.

I have a couple stations set up, both with 4090/7800x3d guts.  I've been long considering getting the Winwing/others up front displays and setting them up in a similar manner.  How well does the mirroring of MFD screens work with DCS in your opinion?  I came SO close to pulling the trigger on such a setup of MFDs/UFCs for one station (mine), but went with 2 Varjo Aero's instead, figuring while in VR using such displays was kinda...moot.  Then I grenaded my lower left leg, tibia/fibula comminuted fractures (6 total, and 2 ankle breaks too), and it's taken me a while to get back into simming since that happened a year+ ago.

Eyes aren't working as well as they used to, and I find myself flying in 2d a lot more, so some sort of MFD/UFC array makes a lot more sense now.  I have 2 Alienware 34" OLEDs along with 27" 4k 144hz gsync/etc LG gaming monitors at each desk/station.  Again, I have so much HOTAS gear I don't know what to do with it all, so setting up better stations is handled on that end. A more accurate count as of today - (I have all 3 throttles Virpil has come out with and 2 of the latest one with the finger lifts, 1 VKB Stecs, several TM Warthog, 2 Cougar F16, one TM F16 on the way, a WinWing with Hornet and F16 handles, and so many Virpil bases and grips, 14 grips total now including the TM Hornet/etc.  I won't get into the CH and older stuff, but I have multiples of everything, some nib).  I found SO much of this stuff on second hand sales boards in Canada and the USA, example, brand new CH F16/Throttle for under $50 CDN delivered.  I just couldn't stop collecting the stuff.  Pedals too, Slaw, Virpil, VKB, etc...

Old picture, I'll update this week sometime - I replaced the CM2 units in this pics with Warbrds, which work better when not using grip long extensions, and use the CM2s with some long table mounts from Monstertech but only for specific sims/planes.  Mostly Helos usually.  I also have a right and left hand metal Virpil Constellation Alpha grips for them now. 

I use the VKB GF3 as I said on the desk table surface as I find in AH I'm a much more accurate shot when I have my forearm on the the desk surface.  I'll get a GF4 shortly to try it out too.  IMO the GF3/4 is the best bang/$ out there if you are focusing on just the stick.  If I could have only one, it'd be the GF3 or 4 with a VKB throttle and Slaw pedals.  A used GF3, used VKB pedals, and a good used Virpil or Stecs throttle is a superb setup too IMO.

So ya, with a goodly number of the right MFD/UFC/ETC, I have ample HOTAS to setup multiple types of flying systems, be it space 2 stick HOSAS, or AH/DCS/IL2 HOTAS.  Any advice on which MFD/UFC to grab and how they work would be appreciated.