With so many of the default MSFS aircraft having stick rather than yoke one wonders why the 3rd party hardware businesses wont make a good general aviation looking stick. All available today are military style with a gazillion buttons and even more importantly right handed. Naturally flying general aviation a left hand stick would be more realistic and practical with a throttle on your right. The only buttons needed would be Push to talk, trim and a hat switch. I am sure it would sell well so it makes me wonder why noone has taken the challenge.
I know there are a few plasticy ones with a big bulky base like one you would use in 1995 playing you arcade games. I am talking more sturdy metal ones like Thrustmaster Warthog or Virpil etc.
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Personal Comments and Observations
Many āsystemā controllers with expandable bases and add-on modules already offer left and right hand oriented joysticks.
As for less is more, I would agree except I want less on the keyboard and more on actual controls. To that end, that means more buttons, toggle switches and sliders, most of which will end up either on the stick grip, the stick base or as a clip or separate module.
I have pretty much transferred basic controls for lights, electrical/ignition/mags, fuel, control surfaces (flaps, spoilers), gear and de-ice onto either the stick or add on modules, completely eschewing the keyboard.
I would say the above controls are equally as useful if not more so in VFR, especially in Cold & Dark, T/O and definitely in the circuit to fly a good pattern.
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Thats what the Honeycomb Bravo is for 
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Hi,
you have the RealSimGear - Cirrus Side Stick Yoke but expensive.
For my part, I have the Honeycomb and that is very good.
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Too many gotchas with HC etc especially their button behavior IMO. I prefer VKB and the like because you can easily redefine button/control behavior using their internal utilities, and even swap out hardware (i.e., my flaps toggle can have up to five positions if I install the correct switch and detents). Anything custom scripting because thereās no keybind is easily handled through Mobiflight.
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I agree with you. Iād like something super simple for flying Cubs and such.
Itād make sense for Virpil, VKB, or Thrustmaster to do this as a grip for the more expensive bases (like the Virpil Mongoose). They do have a more ātraditionalā warbird grip that has the 2 buttons, 2 hats, and a dual stage trigger for $99, which is very reasonable.
But do just a basic Cub-style cylindrical grip with a PTT button on top - cheap and easy, like $40. Make a middle-ground X-Cub style grip with a trim rocker, a thumb button, and a trigger for like $60. Iād buy both.
Iām still waiting for some maker to offer a 3-D printed throttle, prop, and mixture with a ball-end for the Logitech throttle quadrant, to replicate Cub-style or warbird controls.
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I used Spad.NeXT to easily map four flap positions to my Bravo flap lever.
Short press down (<1 sec) lowers the flaps in steps from 0-1-2-3
Long press down (>1 sec) sets them to 3, regardless of position.
Reverse for flaps up.
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I just needed to pick and install a four or five flap switch, went with the four. Used MSFS built in keybinds, not even needing Mobiflight, every click down is one more flap detent, every click up is retraction. If I reached the limit of the planeās programmed flaps, additional clicks down do nothing. Itās awesome to be able to tell flap position by feel on the switch alone. No need to peek down either in the Virtual Cockpit or real world. Itās great just hearing flap motor deployment and one tug tells me exactly what position and when the deployment or retraction finished.
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Iāll add that there are several companies offering left handed and right handed sticks such as Virpil and VKB. Winwing offers an Airbus Stick that is ambi and very simplified that could do GA duty. All pricey but seemingly quality products aimed at lifetime use with hall effect sensors and replaceable switches.
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I get that. Compromise is a way of life in the friendly skies.
With the Bravo and Spad I give up the āfeelā but gain the ability to have individual profiles for all of my planes that are autoswitched when I select that plane in my hanger. Not having to create and load multiple profiles in MSFS is a huge benefit.
Iām not shilling for Spad, or the Bravo. Iām also trying to make things work within my personal budget.
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Can we also get a johnson-bar style flap lever with a ratchet/pawl and button style release? Please?
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Hi,
VKB do a āWWII Combat Editionā joystick, which has just one button and one hat on the top, so would cover you for PTT and pitch up / down. It also has a trigger and a pinky lever, the trigger at least of which can be folded out of the way (and probably completely removed, but donāt quote me).
You also get the benefits of the excellent NXT Evo base and gimbal, with dry clutches, adjustable springs and damping etc., plus a throttle in the base if you need it.
It doesnāt necessarily fit all the requirements and certainly cheaper joysticks are available, but from my own experiences Iām pretty confident that this would both outperform and outlast anything that Logitech or Thrustmaster currently produce.
With the WWII grip it doesnāt really matter which hand you wish to use, but VKBās more complex and button-festooned sticks do come as left or right hand options.
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When I fly aircraft that are flown with the left hand on the stick and the right hand on the throttle (like for example the Katana) I do the same in the sim, usually I fly in VR and this together with my setup comes incredibly natural. I do this with the Warthog Hotas Stick. Itās obviously a full right hand stick but thatās absolutely no problem in MSFS since you fly with 2-3 fingers anyway. You donāt grab the whole stick with your hand unless you actually use the HOTAS system in a fighter. And even then you usually fly with 2-3 fingers. I grab the stick either below the trigger or at the head. Itās not as nice and round as the Katana stick but it works perfectly fine. Thereās hardly any forces in the sim anyway. It feels strange when you do it the first time but you get used to it quickly.
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I know someone who did that for the Bravo so they may be out there for the Saitek. Havenāt looked myself as I have neither.
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I for one like to have a center stick, since there are view GA aircraft that have a side stick. Also I control everything that has to with āviewā over my joystick or yoke, so I need at least one 8-way switch. Also many modern GA aircraft IRL have the trim control on the stick adding another four buttons or a 4-way switch. Add one button for the radio and youāre already close to the layout of many simpler military flight sticks like the VPC WarBRD.
Currently I use the TM Warthog base with the standard F-16 grip and 10cm extension as a center stick. That works extremely well with the right hand (F/A-18, Savage Cub, Spitfire, Bf-108) and reasonably well with the left (Sting S4, most of the UL aircraft etc.). I simply hold it lower - like I would with a GA stick as well. Itās not as comfortable though because the pinky buttons get in the way but itās a compromise I can live with.
That said: if someone would offer me a leftly F-16 grip or a lefty version of the VPC WarBRD Grip for 150,-ā¬ or even more, I would buy it in an instant! Already contacted Virpil on that matter, but I am less than hopeful. However if more people would write to them, maybe theyād see the potential.
There used to be a guy who made a replica left hand version of the TM F-16 grip for StarCitizen but that seems to have been abandoned. 
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You can use the Virpil left handed stick or even one of the VKB left handed sticks with an adapter on your TM base. I personally donāt think much of my TM base but I do like the stick. Itās a shame the quality of the stick is not reflected in the base. Iāll be changing the base at a later date, probably for a Virpil.
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the left hand stick doesnāt fully work with the TM base, according to Virpil.
Also I find it to be too big and clunky especially compared to the elegant design of the F-16 grip
AFAIK you can only mount a TM grip on a VKB base but not the other way round
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The Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flightstick is ambidextrous and pretty neutral looking.
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Yes, but you canāt use it as a center stick unfortunately.
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With something like these adapters you can physically interface both ways.
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