Extended Warthog Stick with industrial spring for more feedback

In fact I may also get a car gearstick rubber boot/gaitor for the bottom of the extension as well

Don t expect too much of Thrustmaster.

Wouldn t a plastic tube for extension work and lift some weight from the mechanism ? Or the weight diference is ... irrelevent ?

Nice Job! Especially the reducers are better than, the plastic joints I used. :thumbup:

What do you think about the reduced centering force? Is it enough? I found mine to be virtually none, so I added the febrotec spring.:joystick:

The good thing is, if you attach it to the rod while pushing the spring a wee bit down and fix it, it lifts the stick a little bit so the actual force from extension's weight is reduced rather than added.

Don t expect too much of Thrustmaster.

Wouldn t a plastic tube for extension work and lift some weight from the mechanism ? Or the weight diference is ... irrelevent ?

Yes a plastic tube will work as well. Another fellow simmer did it with a larger plastic pipe and the Gardena plastic kits, just looks a bit thick, but works obviously.

The trick is to get the pipe connected to the stick handle and base. What mr_mojo97 solved with the reducers.

Yes, shagrat, the centring force is virtually nil as I tried it as well from the floor, but I thought the throw was to large, that's why I shortened it to be more like the real thing, giving similar (I think) throw as well.

I'm sure the mechanism won't be affected be an extra 200g in weight over a plastic pipe as it uses hall electrical sensors to measure voltage across a magnetic field rather than the old mechanical means of pressing a switch (in fact forgive me if I'm wrong but is this a form of fly-by-wire?)

Yes, shagrat, the centring force is virtually nil as I tried it as well from the floor, but I thought the throw was to large, that's why I shortened it to be more like the real thing, giving similar (I think) throw as well.

I'm sure the mechanism won't be affected be an extra 200g in weight over a plastic pipe as it uses hall electrical sensors to measure voltage across a magnetic field rather than the old mechanical means of pressing a switch (in fact forgive me if I'm wrong but is this a form of fly-by-wire?)

As I already discussed with Druid, I'm quite shure the 'real' thing might be longer than you see in the first place. Look at the photos on page 2. The handle is some 22cm from top to the screw. If you look at the flightstick in the A-10, there is the rubber boot which covers a good part of the actual rod. It looks like the actual joint is in the metal box below the rubber boot!

But as I said most important is the personal preference. The good thing with a 'shorter' stick is you don't need to fix the spring. :D

That is an awesome extension! That has to be the ultimate in precision control but I wonder how durable or practical it will be for very fast movement? ...

Hi all,

Just an Update on that! It is still operational, no degrading or problems, other than the PS2 cable plug partially disconnected once, when I corrected the twist of the grip. Simply had to unscrew the grip, plug it in again and put together.

It is great on the Huey, especially. And when you want a full deflection move on a P-51 or FW-190, well, I rarely want to risk a wild spin... :D

If I would be doing it again, I would consider putting the base on a small box and shorten the rod about 10-12cm. With the keyboard and MFDs in front you need to set it up precisely, or it may conflict with the board. Not a problem, but an optimisation.

Still it was a good idea to do this and it seems quite durable now three years have passed.

Thanks for the update, I'm considering an extension as well now.

Shagrat, a question for you regarding the extension. I too have an extension, but mine has four springs from the extension to the floor, a-la Flim's version. On your stick, do you find that the handle itself twists in any way? If not, how did you keep it from twisting?

I'd like to try the one large spring method. I found that the springs included were a bit on the heavy side. I put in lighter springs, which helped, but now they might be a little too light. If you bring the stick back and to either side, it tends to stay there without a little help getting it back to center.

Have you tried it with a helicopter? The extension makes it far easier to control than without.

I'm flying the Huey most of the time. It helps a lot.

The industrial size spring (they come in different forces) gives you a centering force similar to a Saitek X52.

To prevent the twist on the base end I put a short screw through the aluminium pipe into the Gardena's plastic tube. Careful not to hit the cable! On the Grip end twist is not an issue it is fixed at 35* twist and I correct from time to time if it moved a little ( rarely occcurs).

The way I mounted the spring, I had not to worry about force and counter force. It centers equal from any direction, without adjustment.