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Thrustmaster Warthog + Wheel Stand Pro - The nearly perfect solution to fly Il2

IckyATLAS

By IckyATLAS
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IckyATLAS

IckyATLAS

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After having tried various solutions at say to medium and low cost with throttles and Joysticks, I decided with the arrival of the Kuban map to make a "heavy" investment into something more serious. After having looked out on the internet and YouTube for existing solutions, I decided to go with a full Thrustmaster setup. That is the Warthog Hotas and the Thrustmaster Rudder Pedals. I could not find any other Hotas system of such quality, except maybe for the older Cougar version.

 

To keep all this together I also bought the Wheel Stand Pro gear made for the Thrustmaster Hotas and pedals.

 

I had already an office chair like a pilot seat, so everything matched together perfectly except for one issue:

 

The Thrustmaster Warthog joystick base.

 

That base is a big square heavy metal plate. Perfect to have on a table, or on a flat support on the right side of the chair. 

But I want the joystick between my legs like in a real WWII fighter plane, or in a little more recent one I used to fly some years ago.

 

The Wheel Stand Pro comes with metal plates to accommodate the Throttle and the joystick, but impossible to have it between the legs, arrange the height and no way to use properly the pedals.

 

Here I took advantage of the fact that one can disassemble (unscrew) the joystick from its base plate. I had the Wheel Stand pro Joystick base plate cut just to the diameter of the joystick body base and drilled to match the joystick screws. It is a metal precision work if you want a good result and look. It costed me 60 Euros additional investment but absolutely worth it.

 

Now I have a full solution that can easily be folded and pushed under the table in 10 seconds, and back out when needed. 

 

There is no way back once you have this setup, and the software is also perfect to easily program whatever kind of action need.

 

So what's next? A 40" inch 4k monitor, for the official BOK delivery on the market (Christmas time?). At the moment I have a 32 inch, but if one considers size of the cockpit image at a distance of the throttle and the image resolution etc. etc., 40" seems the perfect size for a single monitor solution. Larger is not good as you cannot grasp the full view, you need then a three monitor solution (3 X 32") but IL2 is not designed for that yet. Anyway you would need a not existing yet newer generation graphic board to push pixels at 60 frames for three 4k screens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thad

Thad

Posted
Posted

No between the leg joystick?

 

post-119325-0-70071900-1505492453_thumb.jpg

BOO

BOO

Posted
Posted

No between the leg joystick?

 

That sits above the knee - if you need it lower (for instance if using an extension) surgery is required (to the base or your legs) because the large base does interfere with your legs behind the knee and prevents the stick from sitting as close as you may like. 

[CPT]CptJackSparrow

[CPT]CptJackSparrow

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Go VR...

 

Become one of us...

Yes. Join us. (We have cookies, and depth perception)

  • Upvote 1
Sokol1

Sokol1

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That is the Warthog Hotas and the Thrustmaster Rudder Pedals. I could not find any other Hotas system of such quality, except maybe for the older Cougar version.

 

In the story next door no, but if you look at Internet certainly find better hardware. ;)

[CPT]CptJackSparrow

[CPT]CptJackSparrow

Posted
Posted

In the story next door no, but if you look at Internet certainly find better hardware. ;)

Virpil. Crosswind. Iron Mechanic throttle.

IckyATLAS

IckyATLAS

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The Wheel Stand Pro can be purchased with a Warthog Joystick adaptor that eliminates the broad metal plate, and allows it to sit right in front of your seat, between your legs.  You don't need to hire a machinist!

 

http://wheelstandpro.us/x-parts-warthog-joystick-adapter-no-returns-no-refunds/

 Oops I did not know about that, or at least it did not appear on their site when i did the order. Maybe it is an additional option to buy. Anyway the result I have is identical to that one. But thanks for the info and good to know.

sergio_

sergio_

Posted
Posted

Yes. Join us. (We have cookies, and depth perception)

I found a problem with our 'VR club cookies': they often want to get out of your stomach, specially the first days.

 

Personally I'm getting used to VR on this regard, and I do suggest to consider it as an immersive and much cheaper alternative to monitors.

 

With the joystick between your legs, you'll surely believe you are there!

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IckyATLAS

IckyATLAS

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That sits above the knee - if you need it lower (for instance if using an extension) surgery is required (to the base or your legs) because the large base does interfere with your legs behind the knee and prevents the stick from sitting as close as you may like. 

In fact the real flying stick moves at the base (plane floor). So to have a more realistic position you should have the joystick slightly inclined towards you which is not possible with the large flat metal plate base, or otherwise the Joystick needs to be much too high. So in any case the plate surgery or the optional stick plate mentioned by Iceworm is necessary.

Ideally we should have from Thrustmaster a joystick extender (telescopic pole), so that the base with the spherical two axis motion stands at the floor level between the legs. Maybe I should have my machinist study this case.

IckyATLAS

IckyATLAS

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I found a problem with our 'VR club cookies': they often want to get out of your stomach, specially the first days.

 

Personally I'm getting used to VR on this regard, and I do suggest to consider it as an immersive and much cheaper alternative to monitors.

 

With the joystick between your legs, you'll surely believe you are there!

I thought about it but all the tests I did are disappointing in terms of image resolution and quality. But yes it is a much cheaper solution compared to multiple monitors.

Let's see how these parameters evolve on the coming generation of VR's. Some very high resolution technologies are around the corner like VARJO and others.

Guest deleted@83466

Guest deleted@83466

Posted
Posted (edited)

In fact the real flying stick moves at the base (plane floor). So to have a more realistic position you should have the joystick slightly inclined towards you which is not possible with the large flat metal plate base, or otherwise the Joystick needs to be much too high. So in any case the plate surgery or the optional stick plate mentioned by Iceworm is necessary.

Ideally we should have from Thrustmaster a joystick extender (telescopic pole), so that the base with the spherical two axis motion stands at the floor level between the legs. Maybe I should have my machinist study this case.

 

Well, I'm sure you know that you can get a Warthog joystick handle extension from various places, up to 15cm long.  To use the Wheel Stand Pro with an extension that long, you would probably have to saw off the "pole" or tube or whatever you want to call it, to get the base that low, but that would certainly be do-able.  In that case the base of the Warthog wouldn't be right above the floor, but maybe a foot off of it. 

 

I think the problem with such a solution would be your Thrustmaster rudder pedals...they are quite narrow, aren't they?  I don't know how you would do such a long extension without constantly banging the stick into your legs.

 

I think the best bet is to get the base of the stick as low as it will possibly go  without having to saw anything, elevate your chair and desk as necessary, and then use one of the shorter Warthog extensions. 

Edited by Iceworm
Beazil

Beazil

Posted
Posted

Go VR...

 

Become one of us...

One of us!  One of us!  One of us!

  • Upvote 1
JG13_opcode

JG13_opcode

Posted
Posted

Virpil. Crosswind. Iron Mechanic throttle.

 

 

The VKB Gunfighter is pretty fantastic too.  Pricey, though.  I bought one for my brother for his birthday and I hate my x52 after having used the gunfighter pro :(

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