Most reliable HOTAS/joystick for DCS?

Hey everyone, new to the forum-not so new to DCS! Sorry in advance if this question has been beaten to death..I tried my best to use the search function, but I didn’t really see what I was looking for. Anyways, I was wondering what joystick (HOTAS) you would recommend that’s reliable for DCS? My previous joystick Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS 4 (PS4 Plug in play) failed on me after only two months (aircraft wanted to yaw, uncommanded responses didn’t correct themselves even after recalibration) so I am in the process of researching alternatives to replace it. After researching most joysticks/HOTAS setups on the market it seems like there is a lot of concern with reliability in most of the reviews or that current computers no longer support them. I don’t really want to shell out tons of money for it to only work for a couple months. Also, right now it seems like Thrustmaster is the biggest in the market, but am really concerned I will have the same issue next time around. I took the TFlight4 apart after it failed and it really didn't surprise me that it did after looking at the cheap components.

I am really thinking about biting the bullet and getting the Thrustmaster Warthog setup or the Thrustmaster T16000M FCS…only problem is they are both very expensive, and again I am reading a lot of reviews stating they fail quickly. Any truth to this? Growing up on flight simulators, I never seemed to have any issues with any of my joysticks, but it seems like this day in age they are made cheaper and not nearly as many options.

Any setups you would recommend or alternatives to the two I am looking at? Thanks in advance.

If reliability and price are what youre looking for Id recommend CH Products. Kind of archaic technology ( weighted throttle to make resistance and non-gimbal stick) but known for durability. I've had mine over 4 yrs and have only had to crimp/tighten the the terminals inside stick a couple times.

That and a member here is making some nice parts for them in the input output forum.

If you are patient, you can pick them up pretty cheap. My setup is a warthog throttle and a ch fighterstick with ch pedals. All found cheap. :)

Thrust master has great hotas setup stick/throttle combo.

Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS HOTAS Controller

VKB sim- Gladiator a great hotas stick for 100.00 you will still need throttle if you want all the HOTAS THROTTLE. The stick has a throttle on it... but very basic.

The Thrustmaster warthog throttle/stick has been bullet proof and going 3 years of many ours w/o a hitch... it has been solid.

If you are talking about Rudder pedals.. then it gets expensive quick...

the Thrust master rudder pedals (the 80$ ones that go with the t1600m) are bad when it comes to being smooth...

If it was modified and ran on some ball bearings that it would be much better …

but my spring broke and then other parts on it broke... so it was junk..

I modded mine for a makeshift throttle/brake pedal until my 1000$ pedals arrived...

Buy well made products otherwise it will just be a pain in the … at least in my experience.

Those I know who has bought a t16000 usually has the yaw twist axis break after 10-15 months like clockwork.

Ch isn't what they used to be, mine was a mess of pot spikes and intermittently working buttons since they came out of the box.

If you want real reliability you'll unfortunately be looking to Vkb or Virpil, I went with virpil mostly due to stock issues vkb was never actually available to buy out of the European store for ages.

I went with virpil and MFG crosswind and have no regrets after almost two years of use, I never needed to even calibrate the crosswinds and the virpil only when updating firmware or changing cams.

The ch needed recalibrating at least once a week sometimes more due to drift or just wonkyness.

But yeah, vkb or Virpil are crazy bananas expensive and to spend this much you need to have lost your marbles a bit.

The vkb gladiator is a better option perhaps, or just jump in on something but from a store with an open return policy.

Love my Gunfighter Pro Mk III with Warthog throttle and MFG Pedal setup.

But yeah if the boutique guys (VKB and Virpil) are out of the equation I would go with the Warthog setup.

T16000M or FCS package seems like a good buy. I was surprised at how solid it felt after I tried it. It's plastic yes, but the action of the stick was not far off from the Warthog. Far far better feeling than a logitech or saitek HOTAS, these feel like toys to me. I can't speak for the FCS pedals, have not tried them, but I have owned both CH and Saitek combat pedals, and neither of them were that impressive, better than nothing, yes, but I felt I was fighting them more often than not (especially after trying KOMODO's pedals, smooth as cashew butter).

If it breaks you can always take it back to the store right?

The Warthog is great overall, but the slew sensor really bothers me. If you don't plan on flying an A-10C or F-16C, then it's probably too much for your budget. But if you plan on having a "cockpit" style seating, where you want to mount the Warthog stick between your legs and even add on extension, then it's great for that, since the base plate comes off.

Ah yes. T1600 throttle + ch fighterstick would make a great combo!

Virpil and VKB are still too young to determine if they are reliable yet. In another 5 years, we'll know. I still view them as being at the Fanatec stage in the early 2010s. As far as whether they are worth taking a chance on or not, yeah, I think so.

I've had the Warthog since early in its inception and never had the "stiction" problem that has been mentioned and that I have seen in YouTube videos, but I have had a mylar dust shield over the gimbal area since day one and probably just lucky.

I've also had the CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle USB versions for almost 20 years now (I think it's been about that long for the USB variants) and the throttle quadrant since its release and they are still as good as when I bought them, so I can't speak to whether CH Products is still the same CH Products they were since they were bought out awhile back.

Hello! I recommend t16000m plus TWCS throttle. It's been five years since I bought it, during which time I haven't had any maintenance on it. It's still very easy to use!

I have had HOTAS from Saitek, Logitech, Thrustmaster, CH and now I am in the VKB.

In years I have ruled out everything else than two manufacturer, VKB and Virpil.

If I would buy anything else than from those two, it would be the CH and then spend time to modify them to fix their circuit boards, pots and so on.

So I would say that CH is great if you accept two things.

1) You do not get the most ergonomic stick but that is up to you. You will as well lack any axis on the stick and really need to get their throttle that has the mini-stick.

2) You need to be willing and capable to modify those by doing those few basic modifications. Not difficult really, just time consuming to get all the parts you need, and extra cost.

The great thing with the CH is that it is very easy to mod. Its plastic is great and you have plenty of room inside and you can do lots of things easily. I have example done (and undone) the throttle friction mod, as I converted the throttle one time to helicopter collective by installing it vertically and the throttle really just falls to down. So I tried to add friction to it with the velcro but that made it sticky. So I made complete different route, I lubricated all plastic parts with silicone, making it really extra easy to slide back and worth (have not felt any other throttle as smooth) and then I simply used string to hang a correctly weighted counterbalance through a pulley. Now on one of my chairs I have simple helicopter collective by CH throttle being vertically installed and at angle so the throttle feels like you would be pulling a collective.

Super easy to do, and moves as easily as pushing a bottle cap on table with one finger.

The Throttle main problem really is it is one axis, so no split axis for fancy maneuvers or such. Not really a problem. The throttle base and the grip has plenty of space that you can even insert a Micro Arduino inside, make a hole for a USB cable and then just put as many switches, buttons etc to the base as you want, even inside the grip.

So I would say that the CH throttle is modders wet dream by how easily you can get stuff in to it.

What comes to the stick (CH Fighterstick), it is like the throttle. But I say it has one main fault (and amazing feature simultaneously) and that is its two axis are split. So you will have more force required when you want to go diagonal force, but just two axis are great to control. But that is actually problem with helicopters, for fixed wings it is not such problem, more like a advantage.

So I would say that the real main limitation in the CH Fighterstick is that it has only one trigger, not dual-trigger. But guess what, there is a mod for that as well. These days one can do so many things with arduino Micro and couple extra buttons, switches etc that it doesn't even matter what the CH product has or not, as you can add it to yourself! The extra USB port to computer is really only limitation and about 25€ + buttons etc is nothing to add.

So if you can fix the pots and even rewire whole thing to arduino... You get such a product that will not break down in your use physically.

In my opinion, I am amazed that CH has not done tiniest polishing to their great HOTAS system. Really, add a couple rotaries to throttle base, couple extra buttons and fix the mini-stick resolution and move from 8-bit to 10-bit or 12-bit even.

Take the throttle and add dual-stage trigger and again add couple switches and knobs to base and same thing, move to 10/12-bit.

It really shouldn't cost any extra these days but it would instantly put CH products couple notch upwards past almost anything else you can easily buy.

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I simply love my VKB Modern Combat Grip. Far nicer than what Virpil T-50 is, its configuration and just handling, inner design etc is just superior. But it took almost 18 months to get hands to one from Europe. LOL.

And reason why I recommend now Virpil over VKB, is simply that Virpil has actually done a Throttle, and not just one but they have made multiple versions (another story how successful those changes has been). That VKB has been teasing like over 2 years now? Virpil is designing now the helicopter Collective, VKB is still silent about their first throttle....

You get the point.

At this moment VKB should have had a throttle out for a year. They should have out a collective as well same time as Virpil is coming. In these days when we have 3D printers, it is no excuse to go through a quick prototyping of the designs and ideas, and then start to go toward production quality and final designs.

The Virpil and VKB products are far more complex, but I don't believe that their hardware will fail in normal use. I am more worried about the software side. As they are heavily software related products, unlike CH that is basic DirectX input related from 90's!

Thanks everyone for your replies! I will write a longer response later when I get some time..got a few questions. It’s going on 3 weeks of no DCS and am itching to get a controller *the right controller* so I can get back on :pilotfly:

Thanks again!!!