Thrustmaster Vapourware

Apart from the Airbus version of the joystick, none of the other 3 items (throttle, flaps and spoiler combo) are never available. I see on the forum that a few people have some of this gear but in the UK it’s a rare event to get these items. Seems to be going on for months. I’d have thought, it being holiday season, that the stores would be full of them. - the money-making machine not working?

I have a good sense of humour so I get this picture in my head of some person at the bottom of his garden in their little wooden shed, desperately trying their hardest to make each individual unit by hand :smile: :smiley: :smiley:

I do have them, they are real xD

The thing is that with the great joystick famine of 2020 companies are not able to offer a stock big enough to cover the huge demand.
Same is going on with graphic cards and new consoles, production is slow due to COVID and demand is at an all time high.

Either way I would say you are lucky to have to wait, there are still many software issues with the thrustmaster quadrant, updates are coming, but it will take time, so don’t be in a hurry.

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Yup all flight sim related hardware was snatched up in the MSFS rush.
Also covid19 pandemic isn’t helping with production output to meet the demand.
Glad I kept and stockpiled all of my old hardware (VR Headsets,G27,G29 Wheels,Yokes,Joysticks, etc etc) I’ll gladly barter them for Lysol Wipes and Toilet paper though :sob::joy:

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Most niche products are in very short supply this year due to COVID. When stuff that’s in demand shows up (typically in very limited numbers), it’s typically bought up by scalpers and resold on eBay and Amazon for 2x the price. It’s not a good year to be in niche hobbies.

Yep, between limited production due to short-staffed factories and a new software release that exponentially increases demand, equipment is in very short supply.

I ordered the quadrant direct off the Thrustmaster website yesterday. (Amazon cancelled my Quadrant order after being on pre-order for 3 months saying it was discontinued. WTF :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:). Stock is coming as I saw the quadrant stock date go from end of December to this week.
Just waiting for the add-ons to appear now :slight_smile:

Thrustmaster is a US company. All the trade war stuff with China and tariff’s aren’t helping either. And it also isn’t easy to set up distribution arrangements in Europe, which delays deliveries to Europe. To top it off, Brexit throws another HUGE wrench in the processes for distribution for foreign companies.

I was waiting on air Airbus Officer Pack (Throttle and Joystick) but I got impatient and when I saw a Logitech X52 Flight Control System come on Amazon for $200 CAD I jumped on it about a month ago.

Looked once, 8 left… looked 5 minutes later… 3 left… said screw it and bought one and got it, much better then my broken old Thrustmaster Joystick I had.

I saw the same Logitech X52 HOTAS listed for $300 2 weeks later… 10 left… by the end of the day it was unavailable.

Tough things to find!

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Thrustmaster flight sim products are of terrible quality. It’s strange that so many people are buying them.

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It’s amazing how nothing is being produced and you can’t buy anything, but the little inventory there is people magically have money for.

Its called being desperate for anything other than a ■■■■ xbox controller or keyboard/mouse!:rofl:

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Had the same happen with an x56 back in September. The small numbers that were there were selling for ridiculous markups (up to $600 CDN). Then a batch of 5 of them were posted for about $25 more than their normal price. I snagged it up right away. By the time I had finished my transaction, they had all been sold already.

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lol ya and I’m pretty happy with this X52 so far. I’m just going to use this for a while and maybe upgrade to those new honeycomb aeronautical throttle and Joystick when they are widely available… they look super nice!

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I was lucky, I got it last week from Spain on the black friday…at almost half price… :grin:

Not too much in a hurry. I think until MSFS gets all the components operational it’s not going to work so well. I’m still using a Saitek Cyborg 3D joystick configured for left-hand use. Dunno how old it is but I got it before I moved to my present home and that was 9 years ago and it works without a glitch. Best PC controller I’ve ever had!

I’ve had my original Saitek X52 for at least 15 years now and it’s still in nearly perfect condition. I’m so glad I never got rid of it!

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Speaking of hardware anyone here know what exactly is going on with force feedback tech on the legal/patent scale within the flight sim hardware manufacture’s world?
Like its 2020 and no software nor hardware dev wants to touch FFB.
The last FFB hardware was the G940 and from what people say it was complete junk.
I mean some sort of feedback during landing/take off undercarriage wheel to runway pavement feel would be great. Not sure about control surface FFB during flight as I have no aviation experience with such through yoke/stick rudders.

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You have the Flaps & Spoiler addons? Would love to see some pics of that setup. Thanks.

I still have my old Microsoft FFB stick from around, what? 1998? I don’t remember :slight_smile:
I loved that thing when I used it. I should pull it out and see if it still works.
Hmm, I wonder if it’s even USB?

Yes, control surface force feedback would be absolutely amazing. Feeling the forces in a steep turn would really help people understand what they’re really doing. Without it, you just think , “man, my airplane doesn’t fly properly at all”

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Here it is, I got it for a review in my youtube channel, the quality is a 9.5/19 but the software is a 5/10 for now, we need an update that adds support for all buttons and the ability to fine tune the throttle sesitivity at different points.