New Virpil CM3 Throttle has arrived

[wowbagger]

8 hours ago, dburne said:

 

... My only concern then will be how it will hold up with multiple removals and re-inserting of that detent. Which I would probably want to do when changing to certain planes  ... I would prefer to be able to take it off and put it back on as needed with no issue depending on the plane I will be flying.

 

This minor annoyance aside, I can't stress enough how much I am so loving this throttle so far! I have used it for several hours over the past couple of days. It is getting to where it fits my hand like a glove lol.

 

 

 

Yes, that's a concern I have too. I fly the helos and warbirds as much as the Viper and Tomcat. When I first saw the CM3 announcement video I was a little disappointed that the detents needed a wrench to change. I'm not sure how well any of the detents would work when using the throttle as a collective. And aside from the time to unbolt and rebolt, I'm a bit worried about the wear and tear that continual changing might inflict on the mechanism. 

 

But I'm glad that all other aspects meet expectation. There isn't yet any other alternative that I would consider getting. Thanks much for the ongoing impressions. For years now I continue to count on you to be an early adopter and provide unbiased, grounded impressions of all things hardware.  Cheers!

[imacken]

30 minutes ago, Lucky said:

dburne, can you tell me if the slew control on the CM3 is any better then the one on the Warthog throttle?

The mini stick used for TDC slew on the CM2 throttle - which is the same as the CM3 in that respect - is, like everything else on the throttle, a huge improvement on my old Warthog throttle. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by imacken

[dburne]

31 minutes ago, Lucky said:

dburne, can you tell me if the slew control on the CM3 is any better then the one on the Warthog throttle?

 

Well I have not really used it yet in DCS, however based on what I saw when calibrating I would certainly think so by a lot.

[dburne]

20 minutes ago, wowbagger said:

 

 

Yes, that's a concern I have too. I fly the helos and warbirds as much as the Viper and Tomcat. When I first saw the CM3 announcement video I was a little disappointed that the detents needed a wrench to change. I'm not sure how well any of the detents would work when using the throttle as a collective. And aside from the time to unbolt and rebolt, I'm a bit worried about the wear and tear that continual changing might inflict on the mechanism. 

 

But I'm glad that all other aspects meet expectation. There isn't yet any other alternative that I would consider getting. Thanks much for the ongoing impressions. For years now I continue to count on you to be an early adopter and provide unbiased, grounded impressions of all things hardware.  Cheers!

 

Thanks much!

Been flying with it most of today again, finally starting to develop muscle memory for all these buttons and switches.

Can't say enough how impressed I am with it. Yeah the front detent problem for me is an irritating issue but I am sure it will eventually get resolved.  I look forward to hearing what Virpil has to say about it.  It will be interesting to see if mine is a one off or if others run into the same eventually. Hopefully after my trip to the hardware store tomorrow I will be able to at least use that front detent again by being able to utilze those good threads that it does go into.

 

Good point on the design, as I am sure many will want to be removing and replacing somewhat frequently if changing planes. It really takes hardly any time to remove and put back in, just need to be very careful I guess with the screw. What boggles my mind is why would a thread strip that far down into the threaded part, rather than more toward the beginning of the threads. Strange.

 

This thing is also very heavily customizable via the software. Did not take too long after posting for help on creating the idle/off switches to work with the detents.  The software can certainly do way more than I would even have the knowledge to do with it.

Also the Warthog cover I had gotten from Sajah also fits this new Virpil throttle nicely. 

[Drac]

The left throttle (not right) rotary works perfectly for turning pages on my kneeboard.  Pushing that button opens and closes my kneeboard...although I normally speak it in VoiceAttack to open/close the kneeboard. 

[dburne]

25 minutes ago, Drac said:

The left throttle (not right) rotary works perfectly for turning pages on my kneeboard.  Pushing that button opens and closes my kneeboard...although I normally speak it in VoiceAttack to open/close the kneeboard. 

 

Nice - thanks for the idea.

[Lucky]

1 hour ago, imacken said:

The mini stick used for TDC slew on the CM2 throttle - which is the same as the CM3 in that respect - is, like everything else on the throttle, a huge improvement on my old Warthog throttle. 

 

That good to hear, thanks.

1 hour ago, dburne said:

 

Well I have not really used it yet in DCS, however based on what I saw when calibrating I would certainly think so by a lot.

Ok, thanks.

[Drac]

On the CM3, is anybody using the slider (that has the center detent) on the front of the throttle handle?

[imacken]

IMO, best used as the zoom axis. 

[dburne]

I haven't got that far in my mapping yet, hopefully this week I will have all my sims mapped how I want them.

Maybe lol.

[dburne]

I have a reply to my support ticket  from Virpil support this morning with the following suggestions:

[QUOTE]

1) try to use another bolt with more length, now 12mm you can use 14-16mm; if it to catch on a normal thread (deeper inside) - this solution will work forever.
2) you can try uses stainless D-3mm self screw - and it will cut new thread inside, but the self-tapping screw is not intended for repeated screwing / unscrewing.

3) and last one, send throttle back to us and we will fix it with new detail.

[/QUOTE]

 

I think option 1 is my best bet to try. I want to be able to remove and replace detents as I go at will and not worry about a self tapping screw wearing out the threads. And I certainly don't want to do option 3 as there is no telling how long I would be without my new throttle. 

So I will take a trip to hardware store today, probably try and get both longer and shorter screws to see which might work best for me. Not sure about longer working, as the one I have I can't get screwed in any further than it currently goes. If I can find a slightly shorter screw that may work, if not maybe washers to fit to raise my screw up a little to where it will clamp down proper on the detent.

[imacken]

Yep, avoid option 3 if possible.

In my experience, it took over a week to organise the return, a week in transit, a week at the factory and another week in return transit.  Four weeks in total!

[dburne]

2 minutes ago, imacken said:

Yep, avoid option 3 if possible.

In my experience, it took over a week to organise the return, a week in transit, a week at the factory and another week in return transit.  Four weeks in total!

 

Yeah that would suck for sure - seems like they could consider sending me a new detent bracket but who knows.

Hoping I can rig this thing either with different length screw or washers to get it to working again.

[imacken]

10 minutes ago, dburne said:

 

Yeah that would suck for sure - seems like they could consider sending me a new detent bracket but who knows.

Hoping I can rig this thing either with different length screw or washers to get it to working again.

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.  I have various Virpil products and I love them all.  However.... the standard of support from Virpil when something goes wrong or even making a query is, frankly, poor.  I have waited several times for more than a week to get an answer to a support ticket.  Then, quite often, they ask a simple question. I reply immediately, and then I wait another week to get asked another simple question.

It is a real pain!

[dburne]

8 minutes ago, imacken said:

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.  I have various Virpil products and I love them all.  However.... the standard of support from Virpil when something goes wrong or even making a query is, frankly, poor.  I have waited several times for more than a week to get an answer to a support ticket.  Then, quite often, they ask a simple question. I reply immediately, and then I wait another week to get asked another simple question.

It is a real pain!

 

Yeah and the main number one reason I bought this throttle was for the detents and having the various ones I could swap out easily as needed.

Now I am concerned about the quality and longevity of that brass insert the detent screws go into. I am still baffled how the threads could have gotten messed up that far down into that insert. Hopefully what I end up doing today with the screws will end up being a permanent fix.

[imacken]

Fingers crossed!

[imacken]

14 hours ago, Drac said:

The left throttle (not right) rotary works perfectly for turning pages on my kneeboard.  Pushing that button opens and closes my kneeboard...although I normally speak it in VoiceAttack to open/close the kneeboard. 

FWIW, I use a modifier and a 5 way hat for that as you need 5 commands for the kneeboard - on/off, previous, next, glance and mark.

On the throttle, I use button 21 as a modifier for all sorts of lesser used functions. It sits right next to your thumb and is seamless to use.

So, for example, I use 21+ 8/8/10/11/12 ffor the kneeboard and 21+ 6/7 for seat up/down.

The rotaries, I use for things like the RADAR and INS knobs (E1/E2) or HUD brightness (14 and 15) and HMD brightness (2 nd 3).

[wowbagger]

Sounds like they didn't fully understand the problem and assumed the first threads are stripped (reasonable assumption), instead of threads deeper down - which logically seems unlikely.  Very weird situation. I hope you can sort it out easily and I look forward to finding out the solution.

[dburne]

12 minutes ago, wowbagger said:

Sounds like they didn't fully understand the problem and assumed the first threads are stripped (reasonable assumption), instead of threads deeper down - which logically seems unlikely.  Very weird situation. I hope you can sort it out easily and I look forward to finding out the solution.

 

Yeah that is quite possible. Hoping I can report back with a good solution later today.

Thanks,

[dburne]

1 hour ago, imacken said:

FWIW, I use a modifier and a 5 way hat for that as you need 5 commands for the kneeboard - on/off, previous, next, glance and mark.

On the throttle, I use button 21 as a modifier for all sorts of lesser used functions. It sits right next to your thumb and is seamless to use.

So, for example, I use 21+ 8/8/10/11/12 ffor the kneeboard and 21+ 6/7 for seat up/down.

The rotaries, I use for things like the RADAR and INS knobs (E1/E2) or HUD brightness (14 and 15) and HMD brightness (2 nd 3).

 

Nice idea. I just assigned 21 as a modifier as well, thanks.

[dburne]

 

Mission Accomplished!

Just got back from Ace Hardware. First - I did not get any longer screw, I just could not fathom in my mind the reasoning with that suggestion, as I mentioned the screw would turn in 4.5-5 turns and then just come to a hard stop. 

 

They had a nice assortment of lengths in the same screw. I got two different lengths, one size shorter which was just a little, and another two sizes shorter in case the one size shorter was not short enough.

But it was - bingo! The one size shorter screwed in and locked that detent down nicely! I got extra screws also just in case.

 

So I am good to go with that forward detent in and operational once again. I guess the question will be how well will it will hold up as time goes on when I change them out occasionally for switching planes.  I won't worry about it unless it happens.

Now I can get back to mapping controls and flying rather than worrying with this.

 

Thanks again to all that offered help and suggestions!

Edited January 11, 2021 by dburne

[wowbagger]

Result!

[imacken]

4 minutes ago, dburne said:

 

Mission Accomplished!

Just got back from Ace Hardware. First - I did not get any longer screw, I just could not fathom in my mind the reasoning with that suggestion, as I mentioned the screw would turn in 4.5-5 turns and then just come to a hard stop. 

 

They had a nice assortment of lengths in the same screw. I got two different lengths, one size shorter which was just a little, and another two sizes shorter in case the one size shorter was not short enough.

But it was - bingo! The one size shorter screwed in and locked that detent down nicely! I got extra screws also just in case.

 

So I am good to go with that forward detent in and operational once again. I guess the question will be how well will it will hold up as time goes on when I change them out occasionally for switching planes.  I won't worry about it unless it happens.

Now I can get back to mapping controls and flying rather than worrying with this.

 

Thanks again to all that offered help and suggestions!

 

Great news!

[dburne]

Ok so after trying these detents out again, I have settled at least for now to go with Warthog Idle/Off detent and Classic Plus for my forward/AB detent.

I would have liked to have seen the Aerobatics detent have a little more pronounced feel to it, plus when the roller started to go across the front of the detent  there was a little noticeable bump there as well which I did not care for.

 

At least I can make choices and have a functioning forward detent again so that makes me happy!

Now Fed EX just delivered my new VKB Ultimate metal grip. So much mapping so much testing to do...

[Lucky]

4 hours ago, dburne said:

 

Mission Accomplished!

Just got back from Ace Hardware. First - I did not get any longer screw, I just could not fathom in my mind the reasoning with that suggestion, as I mentioned the screw would turn in 4.5-5 turns and then just come to a hard stop. 

 

They had a nice assortment of lengths in the same screw. I got two different lengths, one size shorter which was just a little, and another two sizes shorter in case the one size shorter was not short enough.

But it was - bingo! The one size shorter screwed in and locked that detent down nicely! I got extra screws also just in case.

 

So I am good to go with that forward detent in and operational once again. I guess the question will be how well will it will hold up as time goes on when I change them out occasionally for switching planes.  I won't worry about it unless it happens.

Now I can get back to mapping controls and flying rather than worrying with this.

 

Thanks again to all that offered help and suggestions!

 

Good to hear.