vonrickenbecker

Thanks for making such a great tool available to the community! I'll definitely try it out soon. Cheers!

Hey All, Just wanted to give you a brief update: The first batch of SopGrips are in production now, and will be shipped to their future owners shortly! With the gracious assistance of one of our community members, I am in the process of developing an adapter for VKB Gunfighter bases. So if you own a GF base and are interested in the SopGrip, stay tuned!

Hi Rumey, Your SopGrip is under construction as we speak! I hope to have it ready to ship to you this weekend. As for the Sopwith throttle (aka Tampier Quadrant), I do not have an exact price calculated yet, but suspect it will be a little bit more than the SopGrip, as there are more components (especially electronics), and requires more work to assemble. I don't want to throw out any exact price yet, as development is still in the early stages. You are not the only person who has requested that I do an Albatros grip! It seems to be a community favorite. Once I complete the full suite of Sopwith controls (grip, throttle, rudder bar, etc.), the Alby will likely be my next project And you are correct about the motors of the msffb2, any significant addition of weight or stick length will greatly reduce the felt force from the motors. There is a relatively easy modification that will double the motor output, but requires a bit of soldering. Here's a link the the modification: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=125281

Wow, excellent work Magners! I can't wait to give this a try. Out of curiosity, do you plan to charge a license fee of some sort for commercial use? I have several upcoming projects in which your program could be very useful; some of them for my own personal use, and some that I may sell to others in the sim community.

Thanks @ZachariasX! Still some work to be done on it, need to make the knob for the mixture handle with "Rene' Tampier" embossed into surface. Electronics will be housed in a separate enclosure, connected to Tampier unit by a bearing & pushrod linkage, just like the real thing.

Community response on the newly-released SopGrip has been fantastic! It really is a pleasure to be part of this awesome community. Meanwhile, back at the lab, R&D on upcoming products continues...

Vonrickenbecker + BoN Thanks for your generosity, well done sir!

Yeah, that's what I had in mind when designing it. I knew from day 1 that I wouldn't be able to add enough buttons to compete with the button count of a Virpil or VKB type grip without ruining the look of the grip, so I just tried to add as much functionality as I could without spoiling the historical asthetics!

Thanks @nickj123! That's a good suggestion, I'm sure TVAL will have the info if anyone does. Thanks Dude! I would love to eventually get to all of them, though that may take a little while! Current plan is to add a Sopwith style throttle (Tampier unit) with magneto switches and a few other panel items, and a rudder bar. Given the community feedback, it sounds like an Albatros grip might have to be next in the que after those

Thanks for sharing your experience with that setup SteveF. I'd very much love to do an Albatros grip; it's probably my all-time favorite after the Sopwith! Unfortunately I've not had much luck finding drawings and detailed photos from which to model it, so if you have any leads on such information... @Trupo and the_Dude, photos below are an experiment I did quickly before work this morning. I didn't have a 31cm SopGrip handy, so I just cut a 31cm piece of tubing as a stand-in. Msffb2 base is positioned a few inches below my seat (Pardon my messy office in the background). I found this position to be very comfortable, and I could use the joystick's entire range of motion easily, no awkwardness at all!

Thanks Dude! I don't have a photo at the moment, but I can take one sometime this week and upload it. I haven't had any issues when using it myself, I typically use it with a med-length extension, mounted about 5-6 inches below my seat level, which is similar to all of the stick-controlled aircraft I've flown in real life. I have some stick time in a Stearman biplane and a Luscombe (1940's taildragger), and the stick throw and position feel pretty comparable to those.

Hi Sahaj, The SopGrip has three buttons (two triggers + one blip switch) and one 5-way Hat switch (up-down-left-right + center-push). Thanks!

Hi Trupo, thanks for the question (and thanks for your excellent work on aircraft guides as well!) To answer your questions: 1. Yes, interface is same as with Warthog. SopGrip is recognized as a separate controller your computer, with its own USB connection. And yes, you can indeed unplug your handle without destroying anything! The process to remove the msffb2 handle is a bit more involved than simply unscrewing as with Warthog/Virpil, but still easily done. I will include instructions on how to do this. 2. I don't recommend using an extension longer than the MK1a (31 cm) with a stock msffb2, as the felt force at the grip will be very low (though there is no danger of harming the motors, centering force is just weak). For use with longer extensions, there are ways to increase motor force, link below has a good DIY on it: http://www.simprojects.nl/ms_siderwinder_ff2_hack.htm

Thanks for your excellent questions! The SopGrip mounts to the Warthog base but does not interface with it electrically (i.e. mechanical connection only). Instead, it has its own dedicated USB connection and internal microcontroller which make it appear to the computer as a separate game controller. Given this, I don't think it will work with TARGET software, but I will investigate further. I did extensively investigate creating an adapter cable that would allow direct connection to the Warthog base, but decided against it for three reasons: 1. Complexity & cost (connector used by Warthog base is expensive and difficult to source in the US, cable would have to be created from scratch) 2. Number of buttons on SopGrip is fewer than found on the Warthog grip, further complicating the electrical interface. 3. Commonality between joysticks: by using the same USB connection for the SopGrip regardless of joystick base, I can keep manufacturing costs down and keep price lower for you guys For these reasons, I decided that the advantages of a standalone USB connection outweigh the benefits of direct electrical connection to the base. With that said, if there is enough interest in an adapter cable for direct connection to the Warthog, I'm certainly willing to give it a try!

Hi nickj123, The postage calculator is giving me an estimate of $38 USD for first class package service to the UK. Thanks!