Good trim controllers?

[Voyager]

Mostly for other flight sims, but applies here too. 

 

Does anyone know of any good axis based trim controllers? Thinking of doing some very long flights and that one's that I could directly grab and turn would be a bit better than purely using the push button trim commands. 

[Guest deleted@83466]

If you search on ‘Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel’, you will find a fairly good unit.  However, it appears to no longer be in production?  Maybe you can find on on Ebay. I think it’s what you’re looking for.

[Sokol1]

Gear Falcon have good options. Example 3 way:

 

 

Notice the center indicator in this video:

 

https://v-cg.etsystatic.com/video/upload/ac_none,du_15,q_auto:good/VID_20220611_164706049_gpfpig.mp4

 

Salles on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GearFalconSim?ref=nla_listing_details

 

An user comment.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Sokol1

[kestrel79]

I found using my hat switches for trim on my stick like a modern jet works best for me. You can increase it by 1 for small adjustments, or hold it down for big ones. When I used a rotary on my Warhog throttle it took me longer to dial it in just right.

[Bando]

14 hours ago, kestrel79 said:

I found using my hat switches for trim on my stick like a modern jet works best for me. You can increase it by 1 for small adjustments, or hold it down for big ones. When I used a rotary on my Warhog throttle it took me longer to dial it in just right.

I am not able to get it to decrease/increase it by 1 or 2. It's always 3 or more. When I need +1 I need to go back and forth to eventually get the desired setting. I'd wish I could set the speed of it all.

[BMA_FlyingShark]

On 10/6/2022 at 2:35 AM, Sokol1 said:

Gear Falcon have good options. Example 3 way:

Sorry for stupid question but...does it work in Il2?

 

Have a nice day?

 

[Charon]

14 minutes ago, FlyingShark said:

Sorry for stupid question but...does it work in Il2?

 

Have a nice day?

 

I have and love the Gear Falcon wheels. They're geared, so you get three full rotations of the wheel.

 

They're available as a pre-built box or as a bare component for DIYers. I chose the later and connected the included pots up to an ADS1115 ADC and an Arduino and some software I wrote myself.

 

Some potential issues to bear in mind:

 

You'll still need a set of trim switches for the Fw 190, Pe-2, and maybe a few others that can't use an axis input.

 

The Bf 109 and maybe a few others have a rate-limit on their elevator axis (to prevent gamey stuff like people binding their stick to the trim wheel); it's possible to turn the wheel too fast and get ahead of what the game allows. In practice I only notice this when doing very large adjustments.

 

I think they may pose problems for civil aviation sims. I think airliners have autopilots that want to adjust elevator trim on their own, don't they? That won't work with these because as soon as you turn AP off, the trim is going to jump. I don't fly those, but if you do you probably want an encoder based solution more like the Saitek wheel (which will have its own problems with Il-2).

 

They're a little stiff at first. By now, I find my elevator trim is very smooth, but my aileron trim is still stiff because I use it rarely.

 

You may want to carefully add a tiny dab of glue to the indicator arrows, as they can fall off otherwise. Don't use too much in case you want to dissemble them later.

 

In VR you can't see the indicators. I've thought about adding a tactile indicator across from the center point, but haven't done it yet. In many planes it isn't a problem, but I think many of the Soviet planes lack a trim position indicator, so you can get some sketchy take-offs in VR if you're not diligent about resetting trim.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Charon

[BMA_FlyingShark]

Thank you for the information, Charon.

 

Have a nice day.

 

[paul_leonard]

I have the pre-built one.  Very happy.  Unfortunately I think you are going to find that he is out of stock right now.

[BMA_FlyingShark]

3 hours ago, paul_leonard said:

I have the pre-built one.  Very happy.  Unfortunately I think you are going to find that he is out of stock right now.

Indeed, unfortunately.

 

Have a nice day.

 

[Drano]

I have a VKB Gunfighter with MCG-Pro grip. The grip has a hat that's dual use. One way it's a standard 8-way hat with a center press. A long press on the center turns that hat to a 2 axis hat. A short press centers the axii. Another long press brings it back to a view hat. I have the axii on the hat set up for pitch and roll trim with curves set up so it's more precise. It's pretty intuitive using it this way. I use another hat on my throttle for rudder trim. 

[Hoss]

GVL Roll, Pitch, Yaw controller. He's in Germany now, don't believe he has started building again.