VRpit Warthog Extension - Flying Impressions

[whartsell]

This is part 2 of my impressions of the VRpit Warthog Extension.

The first part covered how to assemble the extension. This part will cover my impressions of flying with the stick extension.

 

I have logged about 5 hours of flying in the A-10 , 2 Hours in the Huey and about an hour in the Su-25a/T. So far I'm very happy with the mod and its quality. Overall the feel is great and precision is good. As I spend more time in other aircraft I will update this page.

 

 

Overall

 

All My testing was performed with default curves. While the overall experience is great with the mod you will have to take time to readjust to how it feels. You will have to re-learn muscle memory while flying and possibly change some of your techniques. AAR has a different feel but it took only a few contacts to get back into the swing of things

 

 

Spring Centering

With the extension and external springs the stick will still return to center easily. The mod does not have the "snap" to a "notched" center detente like the stock Warthog. Its more like like as it returns to center there is a circular area where resistance drops to near zero. This results in a larger neutral feel than the stock stick however precision is not reduced as this area still has full control (just not allot of resistance). This feels more like the feedback you would get from a real aircraft (yes I'm a real world pilot).

 

Trimming with the Extension

Since the center is a bit more ambiguous trimming will require a little different technique than with the stock stick. For example if you are the type that trims by applying trim and just letting go of the stick you will not get the same positive results that you do stock. (IMHO this is not proper trimming practice but allot of people do this). Trimming is best accomplished by just applying trim in the desired direction while simultaneously releasing pressure until the stick feels neutral. (this is more like what you do in real life) Note i said feels neutral as the stick is a bit ambiguous in pressure near the center as mentioned above. This makes small corrections very easy while flying without fighting the trim.

 

Deflection Distances and Pressures

The stick is fully deflected at aprox 12" in every direction. For full deflection the pressure is firm but not overpowering and has a good feel. Pressure smoothly increases across the full deflection without any "bouncing" or stickiness. Its very smooth. In my cockpit due to the position of the stick (keep it from hitting the panel) and the size of the base the stick sits a little far from my seat than i would like. By virtue of this position forward deflection is a little uncomfortably far for my reach. This could be adjusted out by using custom curve on the forward part of the axis or by using a curved stick extension. (I have a few ideas on that and am looking into it)

 

 

Flying the Huey

I haven't spent allot of time flying the Huey over all and don't consider myself anywhere near a competent Helo pilot. I flew the Huey about 2 hours with the mod. Flying with the mod made my Huey experience much better. feedback especially during small control deflections was great as the pressure is light and precise. I found myself "bobbing" less during hovers and slow flight than without the mod. My guess is that this is due to the result of the stock stick having high pressure and small throws. I found myself being able to hold a hover reasonably well even with a slight wind blowing. I was also able to approach and land at a FARP with the same wind. (It wasn't pretty as I'm not practiced at it) In the past i was lucky to pick which half of the runway i would land on.

One could also consider flying the Huey without the external springs attached at all as there is still some feedback as to where center is and almost no resistance. I haven't tried this but may in the future.

 

Flying the A-10C

I spent most of my time in this bird as it is my primary aircraft. Pretty much everything I mentioned with the Huey applies with the Hog as well. The stick has a great feel and additional throw allow for more precise control. For example flying SEMs are much easier as you get great feel and feedback to pull pitch for the peak performance tone. I did find I was under-flaring on the landings but I attribute this to what I mentioned before,your muscle memory will need to be adjusted a bit as you now have more throw to deal with. AAR did take some practice to get used to the stick but I think you will go through this any time you change a stick. Once again, as mentioned in the Huey section, forward throw was a little long for me. Take off was also very precise and you can smoothly rotate to your typical 10deg. pitch without much effort or over-rotating.

 

Flying the Su-25a/T

This was the biggest surprise so far. Flying the Frog with the extension was my favorite experience. This plane can actually take advantage of the full deflection of the stick in pitch. flying SEMs in the Frog you could precisely pull pitch for any g-load you wanted. While pulling for 6Gs you would really have to horse the stick back to get it to load up. Once there it was easy to hold the load and you actually felt like you were doing something and working a bit. T/O and Landings were smooth as well. I found you were allot less likely due to the stick travel to over-control the aircraft at low speeds and high AOAs

Edited December 26, 2013 by whartsell

[*Rage*]

Thanks for posting. Really looking forward to getting mine. Will post similar flying impressions when I get it.

[whartsell]

Im also working on getting custom stick extensions with bends created. I have a prototype here I will be testing with.

 

Not a very good pic but you get the idea. Lemme know if you are interested

 

[jay43]

Have you recalibrated the base in joy.cpl since adding the extension, doing this enables you to reduce the overall throw of the stick but still allowing you to use the full axis travel in DCS.

[Panthro]

Looks great thats what I want for an extension, just hope the spring will still

have enough authority to stay centered.