Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Dual Throttles for Flight Simulation, Official Replica of the U.S Air Force A-10C Aircraft (Compatible with PC)

(Update 1 year later: My Master Exterior Light Switch has failed. That's the pinky switch on the throttle, sticking out of the left side. Be careful with that switch, as it is the most vulnerable to snags and such. I'm not sure if mine broke or failed due to a defect, but all other switches are holding up just fine.)((Update 2: I contacted Thrustmaster about my issue. I initially just wanted to know the specifications for the switch so I could replace it, but they offered to send me one for free! It took a bit of back and forth (TM is a French company I guess?) and even though my warantee had ended during our back and forth, they decided to honor it, which is great. The new switch was easy to install (soldering and hot-glue required) and all is fine again! Their customer service is a bit rough around the edges, but they did the right thing in my case, so this product maintains its five start status.))Just about everything has already been covered, but I wanted to add another glowing review just in case you're still on the fence about this stick.Construction:This thing is made of metal and very high grade plastics, and it is metal where it counts. The joystick casing, locking ring and sensor base are all metal, while the buttons are plastic as they would be on the real deal. The meticulously designed switches are solid, and provide enough tactile feedback to resonate through gloves (as the real stick was designed). The throttle base is weighted, and feels extremely solid. I've used real military equipment that wasn't half as sturdy as this.Accuracy and sensors:This stick uses a proper hall sensor, not the low quality kind you'll find in an X-52 (which must be modified in order to be useful). I find that not only does the stick center flawlessly, but it is extremely responsive to slight movements, while being stiff enough to resist accidental input. The only issue I've had so far is with the slider, which I will go into below.Switches and extras:This HOTAS includes a replica of the A-10C's throttle quadrant, complete with APU switch, engine flow switches, and even your Autopilot mini-quadrent. Most importantly, the throttle has all the hats and switches you need to use a HOTAS as intended, with your hands on the throttle and stick. It is a short reach from the throttle to the accurately modeled flaps switch. I have mapped gear up and down to the L/G WRN silence (normally used to silence the caution alarm that plays while your gear is in transition) allowing me to take off and land without ever taking my hands off the HOTAS.Use in DCS A-10:While you don't NEED to have this stick to play DCS A-10C, it makes the game many times better. Once you learn what each hat is named, you can easily follow the tutorial or another pilots instructions to do just about anything. It really does make learning the game easier, and playing it a lot more fun.Use with other sims:The A-10s upgrade to C included updating the joystick with one nearly straight out of the F-16. This means you have a somewhat standardized stick arrangement that will work with other jets. Any twin engine aircraft can be flown easily, and you can link the throttles if you're flying a single engine. The included software will allow you to map the switches to whatever controls you want, even if your sim doesn't recognize them natively. The one thing to be aware of is that some games do not recognize more than one joystick at a time, and the throttle and joystick of this HOTAS are each their own 'joystick' according to windows. This means you'll need to use special software to tie them both into one emulated joystick.The Slider:My biggest complaint is relatively small. There is a linear slider on the throttle. I have it assigned as zoom view. Because it is analogue, or due to a lack of filtering, this slider sends a signal that varies ever so slightly. When it is assigned to zoom your view, this means that anything other than fully zoomed out, fully zoomed in or 50% has a slight in and out shake to it. I had this same issue with my X52 and I was hoping this HOTAS wouldn't do it too.Pros:-Incredible build quality-Shockingly accurate-Very accurate to its namesake-Compatible with previous Thrustmaster systemsCons:-Slider sends shaky signal, making it useless for zoom view-Throttle and Joystick are on their own USB port and read as two input devicesI do not consider the price to be a con, as you will see that the build quality accounts for what you pay. You're not paying for the name, you're paying for the engineering. I highly recommend this HOTAS.

So when I finally bit the bullet and decided to buy this thing I thought for sure I'd regret it later. I'll admit I still kinda do but the more I used it the more I fell in love with it. My biggest surprise when it finally got to my door was just the pure weight of the thing, I mean both units together weigh nearly 14 pounds. But, if you think of it other then maybe several buttons and the handle part of the throttle it is a complete metal construction so I guess that's to be expected. Personally I really wanted this for all the buttons and mini joysticks which may sound like a waste but how many setups do you know of that have a total of 51 mappable buttons/actions. Now some of you might think that's a bit Overkill but in Elite: Dangerous I'm using all but 9 of those options. Given most of them don't get used a lot but I've found I hardly need to use my keyboard at all anymore.As for using it, it definitely requires some getting used to. I've probably had this for about a month now and still haven't fully mastered it yet. But it does allow for some very precise adjustments in times when that's very important. And really its just a lot of fun to use. Everything moves so smoothly with almost no bumps due to the joystick having a very slight one when in it's upright position. But other then that it definitely makes me feel like I'm flying a real spacecraft/plane. Plus all the toggle switches give a very satisfying click that I just can't seem to get enough of.Now some disadvantages/cons that I've so far encountered with this setup is a lack of yaw (z axis left and right) on the joystick, the amount of USB slots it takes up, and really the weight of it. The lack of yaw isn't really that big of an issue since the throttle does have a mouse hat that I can rebind it to without it acting like a full left to right button press. Of course this could also be fixed by buying some flight pedals but this type of immersion isn't for everyone plus I don't really have the space/setup for it. The USB usage probably isn't that big of a deal for some people but I game on a laptop so losing two slots is a big deal for me. Mostly because two of the four slots mine has are already occupied by my mouse and RGB mousepad. I mean I could go out and buy a USB hub or something to make up for it but then that's more money down the drain. And my last con I've encountered so far is pretty much the weight of it. Yes it's nice cause its very stable and definitely wont move around unless you want it to, but again I game on a laptop while might I add mostly laying on my bed. So whenever I need/have to get up it requires me to move it around a lot. But this is really just a personal issue since I don't have an actual desk/desktop setup yet.Would I recommend this to anyone? Well yes and no. Honestly if you want one of, if not thee best joystick-throttle setup's out there then look no further. But if you still can't get past that heffty price tag then I'm sure you can find something for a much cheaper price, I'll be it a much cheaper feeling one but still. And really this setup is targeted at people that want the best immersion in their games. I mean the joystick can literally be taken off it's mount and used in a real cockpit for crying out loud. Nevertheless this is still a great setup and if you do decide to buy it I can almost guarantee that you won't be disappointed.