VKB Gunfighter Mk III Pro L Review

[BladeMeister]

I am sorry, I am obnoxious I know, but I just gotta know. Do you think this mounting plate will work?

I ordered from MonsterTech ,  Joystick / HOTAS Table Mount (Long Version)  VKB Gunfighter Mki/ MKII/ MkIII

 

S!Blade<><

 

[kissTheSky]

I’m not familiar with that one, sorry. 

[-332FG-Gordon200]

@BladeMeister This should answer your question.

 

[dburne]

7 hours ago, BladeMeister said:

I am sorry, I am obnoxious I know, but I just gotta know. Do you think this mounting plate will work?

I ordered from MonsterTech ,  Joystick / HOTAS Table Mount (Long Version)  VKB Gunfighter Mki/ MKII/ MkIII

 

S!Blade<><

 

 

Looks like it.

[BladeMeister]

I am tired of reading your review, watching videos of MKIII setup and scraping my shin bone on the empty MonsterTech long drop mount hanging from the front of my desk!

Tomorrow can never get here fast enough!

 

The sun'll come out tomorrow So you gotta hang on 'til tomorrow Come what may Tomorrow, tomorrow I love ya tomorrow You're always a day away Tomorrow, tomorrow I love ya tomorrow You're always a day away

 

Oh jeeesh, I am resorting to the musical lyrics from  Anne. This song has been stuck in my head for two days. Somebody just shoot me now, I can't bear it.

 

S!Blade<><

[cardboard_killer]

6 hours ago, BladeMeister said:

Oh jeeesh, I am resorting to the musical lyrics from  Anne.

 

You're ready for . . .

 

[BladeMeister]

The fun begins!

 

S!Blade<><

 

 

[Panzerlang]

1 hour ago, BladeMeister said:

The fun begins!

 

S!Blade<><

 

 

Will you be using an extension on that?

[BladeMeister]

3 hours ago, Hetzer-JG51 said:

Will you be using an extension on that?

Yes I am using the long extension, 200mm ???

I have the MKIII mounted, flashed, calibrated and working perfectly. I installed the #50 springs as dburne did and that is good for me. Here it is mounted and I just need to put my Crosswinds back under the table. I set it up in GBS and wow. Having never used a high end joystick before, all's I can say is this MKIII is sweet. Besides being very precise, this just feels right and used with my Crosswinds this setup is going to put a whole new spin on sim flying. I am already impressed to say the least. Now if Vitally from GVL will put together my Trim Console and send it to me I will almost have my Hotas complete. I now have to remount my throttle. Unfortunately my throttle is the week link being an X52pro throttle, but within a few months that will be replaced with an upgrade as well.  More reactions later!

 

SBlade<><

[BladeMeister]

Alright, my throttle is set and my cockpit is settled. This will have to do until I get my Trim Console and finally a new throttle. Off to fly the Tiffy and tear some $#!+ up!!! Thanks to all who helped me along and especially you dburne for the great revue on the MKIII. My wallet absolutely hates you!

 

S!Blade<><

Edited July 14, 2021 by BladeMeister

[dburne]

8 hours ago, BladeMeister said:

Alright, my throttle is set and my cockpit is settled. This will have to do until I get my Trim Console and finally a new throttle. Off to fly the Tiffy and tear some $#!+ up!!! Thanks to all who helped me along and especially you dburne for the great revue on the MKIII. My wallet absolutely hates you!

 

S!Blade<><

 

Lol - congrats and have fun with that new awesome stick!!

[kissTheSky]

23 hours ago, BladeMeister said:

Alright, my throttle is set and my cockpit is settled. This will have to do until I get my Trim Console and finally a new throttle. Off to fly the Tiffy and tear some $#!+ up!!! Thanks to all who helped me along and especially you dburne for the great revue on the MKIII. My wallet absolutely hates you!

 

S!Blade<><

It’s a great piece of hardware, you’re going to love it!

[Mewt]

My GF.III + MGCU + 200mm extension arrives today.

Does anyone (OP?) using the same setup recommend their cam, spring and dampener settings?

 

 

[dburne]

9 minutes ago, Mewt said:

My GF.III + MGCU + 200mm extension arrives today.

Does anyone (OP?) using the same setup recommend their cam, spring and dampener settings?

 

 

 

Well what really matters will be what feels good to you and that is by trying different ones. The Gunfighter Mk III is made for doing this and is relatively easy to do so. Main thing when changing cams is to make sure you use the same washer setup for each one that it ships with.

 

Not sure I remember on the cams, for springs I was running a single #50 on each axis, and after adding the heavier Ultimate Grip I added another spring to each axis, it was either a #20 or #30 that I added with the #50. 

I have just a small amount of damper added to mine.

[BladeMeister]

I am using the stock cams with the #50 springs. I am going to add a #20 to each axis this weekend. When calibrating I had a .1 off center on the x axis. No biggie but I am going to add the extra spring and recalibrate to see what happens. I probably have 4-5 hours in so far and I love it. In GBS I chose to BF109F2 and have been strafing and practicing landings. I have always had a hard time landing the 109, but honestly I have 29 nicely successful landings with one crash. Honestly this stick is amazing to me. Tomorrow and for the 3 day weekend I am into dogfighting and setting up Blitz/DWoT.  You are going to love the MKIII. Have fun!!!

 

S!Blade<><

Edit: Don't waste your time with the stock springs. They are way to weak with the extension. Change up to #50 at least, mount it guick and with extension and grip and physically try it before you power it up. This will be time we'll spent. I tried it with stock springs and they were WAY to week IMHO. Maybe dburne will confirm this?

Edited July 15, 2021 by BladeMeister

[Mewt]

3 hours ago, dburne said:

 

Well what really matters will be what feels good to you and that is by trying different ones. The Gunfighter Mk III is made for doing this and is relatively easy to do so. Main thing when changing cams is to make sure you use the same washer setup for each one that it ships with.

 

Not sure I remember on the cams, for springs I was running a single #50 on each axis, and after adding the heavier Ultimate Grip I added another spring to each axis, it was either a #20 or #30 that I added with the #50. 

I have just a small amount of damper added to mine.

 

38 minutes ago, BladeMeister said:

I am using the stock cams with the #50 springs. I am going to add a #20 to each axis this weekend. When calibrating I had a .1 off center on the x axis. No biggie but I am going to add the extra spring and recalibrate to see what happens. I probably have 4-5 hours in so far and I love it. In GBS I chose to BF109F2 and have been strafing and practicing landings. I have always had a hard time landing the 109, but honestly I have 29 nicely successful landings with one crash. Honestly this stick is amazing to me. Tomorrow and for the 3 day weekend I am into dogfighting and setting up Blitz/DWoT.  You are going to love the MKIII. Have fun!!!

 

S!Blade<><

Edit: Don't waste your time with the stock springs. They are way to weak with the extension. Change up to #50 at least, mount it guick and with extension and grip and physically try it before you power it up. This will be time we'll spent. I tried it with stock springs and they were WAY to week IMHO. Maybe dburne will confirm this?

 

Thanks chaps. All very very helpful.

 

It just arrived... its magnificent. A nice upgrade from five years with Warthog stick and extension. 

[dburne]

2 hours ago, Mewt said:

 

 

Thanks chaps. All very very helpful.

 

It just arrived... its magnificent. A nice upgrade from five years with Warthog stick and extension. 

 

Oh yeah no comparison.

[LukeFF]

I use the strongest springs double-paired on each axis with the cams tightened down about halfway, along with the stick extension. This results in relatively strong force needed to move the stick but not so much that the stick ends up "stuck" in a particular direction.

[BladeMeister]

38 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

I use the strongest springs double-paired on each axis with the cams tightened down about halfway, along with the stick extension. This results in relatively strong force needed to move the stick but not so much that the stick ends up "stuck" in a particular direction.

Luke, how did you determine your dampers were half way tightened down. I started tightening mine down and I never felt the screw getting tighter so I just loosened them back to where I felt they were from the factory. My base was not shipped with the dampeners tightened all the way down.

 

S!Blade<><

[LukeFF]

2 hours ago, BladeMeister said:

Luke, how did you determine your dampers were half way tightened down. I started tightening mine down and I never felt the screw getting tighter so I just loosened them back to where I felt they were from the factory. My base was not shipped with the dampeners tightened all the way down.

 

It's just a feeling - tighten them down really hard, and you can feel the cams sticking as you move the stick around. So, I then backed off the tightness until the cams weren't sticking any more but also were preventing the stick from bouncing back and forth like a simple desktop joystick.

[Dallas88B]

@dburne Just wanted to say how much I appreciate your excellent post. Really very helpful. Thank you.

 

[dburne]

1 hour ago, Dallas88B said:

@dburne Just wanted to say how much I appreciate your excellent post. Really very helpful. Thank you.

 

 

Thank you - you are most welcome!

[Dallas88B]

On 1/8/2022 at 9:45 PM, dburne said:

most welcome

I see (from your posted photos in this thread) you changed from the TM warthog throttle to the Virpil. 

Can I ask, are you happy with the Virpil Throttle?

Better than winwing do you know?
Better than the warthog I presume? 

I am happy enough with the Warthog Throttle but if I upgrade to the VKB gunfighter, I think I would sell the whole Warthog HOTAS.... so I would need a replacement Throttle. 
 

[dburne]

1 minute ago, Dallas88B said:

I see (from your posted photos in this thread) you changed from the TM warthog throttle to the Virpil. 

Can I ask, are you happy with the Virpil Throttle?

Better than winwing do you know?
Better than the warthog I presume? 

I am happy enough with the Warthog Throttle but if I upgrade to the VKB gunfighter, I think I would sell the whole Warthog HOTAS.... so I would need a replacement Throttle. 
 

 

Oh yes, been running the Virpil CM3 Throttle for several months now and absolutely love it!

Way better than my Warthog throttle imho. Can not comment on the WinWing.

[Dallas88B]

The Virpil CM3 gets lots of good user comments in IL2 and DCS forums too... the Winwing Orion Throttle looks great, is a fair but cheaper than the CM3, but gets awful comments on the DCS forum....makes it hard to assess. I guess the Virpil CM3 throttle, more expensive but the safe bet. Anyway there is no option to order on the wing wing store - sold out restock Feb 15 they say.

[SvAF/F16_Goblin]

Not to hijack the tread but.

I have also replaced my Warthog throttle with VPC CM3 and I concur, better than Warthog. Really happy but it is fairly expensive ?

Edited January 30, 2022 by SvAF/F16_Goblin

[Dallas88B]

On 1/30/2022 at 4:10 PM, SvAF/F16_Goblin said:

 

Not to hijack the tread but

 

Not at all... thank you for your input....its most appreciated. 

[dburne]

Hard to believe I have been running this thing for 2 years now - still working fantastic!

[Chris65]

All I could say when seeing it was...WOW.  Beyond my $$ means, but dang! 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Chris65

[1Sascha]

Sooo...?

 

GF or WarBRD?

 

I'm not super excited about any of the modern style grips, but I probably will upgrade from my Evo before the year is out. Just not sure if I should go Virpil or VKB.

 

One argument for Virpil for me would be their WarBRD grip. I absolutely want a conveniently placed thumb-button for cannon like this:

 

or this

 

 

or, well, this:

 

 

... and all the modern stuff like TM F-16/WH, Mongoose, VKB MCG have their pickle buttons mounted too far up for me so I'd have to switch my hand position. Was the one feature I never liked about the TM F-16 and WH grips, haven't had a chance to try the MCG yet, but its pickle button placement looks pretty similar to the WH's.

 

I guess due to their modular, quick-change design, I could make do with the VKB if I added a KG-12 grip to one of their modern grips I would want for DCS... so I think I'll want to make this about the quality and feel of the base units. So... GF or WarBRD?

 

 

S.

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by 1Sascha

[dburne]

Both Virpil and VKB are excellent products. Hard to go wrong either way. You are correct in your assessment on the VKB Grips, like the MCG Pro  or Ultimate - in that some buttons can be a little hard to reach, and I have large hands. But I do love my all metal Ultimate Grip sitting on my Gunfighter Mk III Pro with 200mm extension.

 

I recently added a Virpil Collective, and chose the Virpil Alpha Grip to go on it. The Alpha Grip is very sweet and all the buttons easily reached. I got the left hand version to go on my Virpil Collective and really liking it.

 

If going Virpil if you are just going to sit it on your desk I would suggest the WarBRD, if going to mount with extension I would suggest the T-50 CM2 Base. Virpil sells the desk mounts as well. The VKB Gunfighter Mk III comes with the plate for sitting on desk, or they too also offer the mounts and extensions to mount to the desk. I have been using a center mounted to desk with extension stick for a number of years now and love it.

[kissTheSky]

My vote goes to GF. Ultimate grip may have some buttons slightly out of reach, but it has many more that are within quick reach.

[1Sascha]

1 hour ago, dburne said:

If going Virpil if you are just going to sit it on your desk I would suggest the WarBRD, if going to mount with extension I would suggest the T-50 CM2 Base. Virpil sells the desk mounts as well. The VKB Gunfighter Mk III comes with the plate for sitting on desk, or they too also offer the mounts and extensions to mount to the desk. I have been using a center mounted to desk with extension stick for a number of years now and love it.

 

 

Well...

 

 

 

The baseplate (that the Gladiator adapter-plate sits on) is WH compatibe, so I already emailed Virpil, asking them if the WarBRD is also WH-compatible and if I could pull off the blasphemy of mounting the WarBRD base to the VKB base-plate... ? I do like that mount and I'd like to keep it, but Vipil's look just as good. Worst case: I'll sell the Evo and its mount on here or on ebay and get the mount from Virpil.

 

The WarBRD's mounting screws are spaced at 69mm (giggity!) - I already measured the plate's slots and 69mm seems to fit, but I'm not sure about the general shape of the plate and if the Virpil would fit on top of it (pretty sure it won't fit underneath like it's mounted on their own desk-mount).

 

That said: I think it would be silly to base my purchase-decision on the fact that I own a VKB mount already. Plus I gotta say that as much as I like VKB's products so far, their communication and customer-service seem a bit lacking, considering they're a mid to high end niche company.

 

For example: My Evo was missing its baggie of additional springs and it took them well over a month over two months to get those to me - all the while always promising "next week", "next week" until they fell silent to my second or third email and 10 days later the springs simply arrived at my house.

 

Another thought is that I'm not sure if I should even look for another stick when I still have that entry level TWCS sitting to my left. The Evo is pretty sweet and feels even better now that I have it mounted centrally.... oh well... decisions, decisions... ?

 

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by 1Sascha

[dburne]

Virpil sticks have same connector as TM sticks.

[1Sascha]

22 minutes ago, dburne said:

Virpil sticks have same connector as TM sticks.

I don't mean the connector between the grip and the base... I mean if the WarBRD base can be mounted to that WH-compatible VKB base-plate.

 

 

Screws should fit.

 

 

 

But given the shape of the WarBRD base's grip connector and the VKB's base-plate, it won't fit like this:

 

Virpil's adapter plate has a concave cutout to accept the circular shape of the grip connector, VKB's plate has a convex shape that would get in the way if mounted in this fashion (underneath)... might still work with the WarBRD base sitting on top of the VKB plate.

 

Oh well.. getting way off topic here... sorry about that.

 

 

S.

[dburne]

Here is the main thing. VKB and Virpil are two very different gimbal base designs. Virpil is designed to get it's strength from being mounted from the front, VKB's designed to get it's strength form being mounted from the bottom. There is a lot of torque that gets applied to these mounting points and this is the way they need to be mounted. Suggest not deviating from that design.

[BladeMeister]

Ditto what DB just posted. They are engineered to mount 1 way and work like a charm. Deviate at your own risk. VKB GF IIII stick with 200 mm extension and Virpil CM3 throttle all the way!!! Couple that with a one of a kind custom trim panel from Vitaly at GVL and some MFG Crosswinds and you are most likely set for life. Investing in quality now, if the wallet permits, pays dividends in satisfaction now and longevity of use. By the way DB my wallet is quite upset with you again for the CM3 recommendation, but I personally am thankful. I am coming to grips with it and settling into the DCS Mosie quite well with the duel throttles. Next stop Box P38J.?

 

S!Blade<><

Edited June 26, 2022 by BladeMeister

[dburne]

5 minutes ago, BladeMeister said:

Ditto what DB just posted. They are engineered to mount 1 way and work like a charm. Deviate at your own risk. VKB GF IIII stick with 200 mm extension and Virpil CM3 throttle all the way!!! Couple that with some MFG Crosswinds and you are most likely set for life. Investing in quality now, if the wallet permits, pays dividends in satisfaction now and longevity of use. By the way DB my wallet is quite upset with you again for the CM3 recommendation, but I personally am thankful. I am coming to grips with it and settling into the DCS Mosie quite well with the duel throttles. Next stop Box P38J.?

 

S!Blade<><

 

Ain't it great - have fun!

[BladeMeister]

Yes, YES IT IS!!! I only wish I had bought a higher quality Hotas and pedals a long time before now. C'est La Vie!

 

S!Blade<><

[1Sascha]

8 hours ago, dburne said:

VKB and Virpil are two very different gimbal base designs. Virpil is designed to get it's strength from being mounted from the front, VKB's designed to get it's strength form being mounted from the bottom. There is a lot of torque that gets applied to these mounting points and this is the way they need to be mounted. Suggest not deviating from that design.

Hmm... hadn't really thought about that. Thanks for the heads-up...

 

Is the GF comparable in "feel" to the Virpil bases (WarBRD or Mongoose)? I did get to try the Mongoose base with the Alpha grip (on a Virpil mount... :D) and it felt pretty freakin' sweet. If the GF feels anything like that, I'd happily stick with VKB. Probably would need the KG-12 grip for my WW2-sims on top of one of their more modern grips, but hey ...

 

 

 

S.