kdg1986 0 Posted January 30, 2008 Hi there. I've currently got a logitech extreme 3D but i've had it awhile and the indexd trigger (button 0) is starting to get a little sticky thorugh over use as its been hammered with everything from x-wing alliance to flying a huey in ArmA and of course FE. So i have about £50 and i wanted to know what people thought was a decent stick to get my mitts on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparkomatic 7 Posted January 30, 2008 saitek X45 or an ancient thrustmaster Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longestpants 1 Posted January 30, 2008 The Saitek AV8R is good too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sparkomatic 7 Posted January 30, 2008 you know, I used thrust masters for years, but after they did the Top Gun one, I was disappointed...no where near the feel...think I used it twice then "lost" it...picked up a Saitek X45 eventhough it is rather not pretty, but then pretty is as pretty does some dudes have Cougars, but that is a chunk of change...knew some dudes that had Cougars that had spring issues, but the company fixed them though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JediMaster 451 Posted January 30, 2008 TM isn't the same company it was when Buzz Hoffman and Bob Church started it over 15 years ago. They sold it and retired from the business and it all went downhill. Buzz of course died over 10 years ago now... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+streakeagle 871 Posted January 30, 2008 The Cougar could have marked the return of Thrustmaster (and for some it did). But IMHO, they missed the boat when they filled the fantastic outside stick shell with at best average crap. After paying all that money for your stick, you have to spend even more to mod it to the condition it should have been in when you first opened the box. Aside from that, the reason I never bothered with a Cougar even after they became really affordable is that I don't like F-16s and don't want in F-16 stick/throttle. If they had made a plug-in replacement for the stick that had the old B-8 stick up to milspec quality (like the real thrustmaster once made so well), I might have a fully modded Cougar on my desk right now. But if you look at all my other threads, you will see I have already spent more money trying to replicate the F-4's B-8 than I ever could have buying/modding a Cougar. I know what I want, no one else will provide it, so I am making my own :) Once I have my homebuilt stick working correctly, repairs/upgrades should be cheap: find any USB stick that can be used to replace whatever innards I settle on if and when they go bad or become obsolete due to operating system/interface changes. Until I get my homemade F-4 stick finished, my primary stick is the X-52 Pro, which I am very happy with. When I am flying newer aircraft that need more stick buttons, it will still be my primary stick. But if I am flying F-15A or older US aircraft, B-8 all the way on an actual F-4 stick assembly! How is that for realistic feel and travel limits? I am not sure yet if I am going to use any kind of pneumatic dampers/shocks to provide some force feedback. The forward/aft direction already has some resistance due to a rubber bellows attached down the center tube. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
