Does anyone have the Winwing Airbus joystick? I’m wondering how good this is compared to Virpil, VKB or Thrustmaster Warthog.
I can only find 2 reviews on YouTube for this which is quite surprising considering how popular the FBW A320 is.
Personal Comments
Looking at it, it only has two buttons?
I moved from a Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick to a VKB Gladiator NXT + Kosmosima grip. Comparing those to product shots of the Winwing, well, it almost seems like you’re getting overcharged.
If you are after something that is “enthusiast/replica” grade and a big step up from the Thrustmaster TCA then it might be worth it.
It’s clearly a copy of the actual sidestick so it’s not going to have a lot of buttons/hats etc though and so will be less value for money if you think of it like that. Haven’t seen it’s full specs but it may also not have any z-axis twist in the joystick so you would need rudder pedals.
Compared to VKB or Virpil grip/gimbal base models it’s going to be “close but not quite”
It’s a good gimbal but I’ve read on r/hotas that it’s not quite in the same class as Virpil or VKB. (VKB gunfighter being the most praised of the gimbals especially amongst space simmers.)
WinWing, VKB and Virpil are all better quality than the TM Warthog which is an old design from an era when they had no competition. It’s basically a metal grip slapped onto the T16000/TCA plastic gimbal with a heavier spring. Any of the above would be a better choice than the Warthog.
It’s an interesting move from WinWing to branch out from military sim to civil aviation but they have been adding some interesting new stuff to their product line lately. They are definitely worth keeping an eye on going forward to see what they do next.
There are actually some reviews on YouTube.
Linked one here…
I just ordered one with the orion 2 base , ill give u a good review when it arrives.
Did you get the force sensing kit? That’s the really interesting thing with Winwing as with the force sensing (not to be confused with force feedback) it’s trying to model how a fly-by-wire flight stick works in the real world.
Edit:
The big difference between Gladiator and Orion 2 is in the gimbal. Gladiator gimbal is a plastic with spring-loaded pincer arms providing the resistance, essentially it’s modernized (and more customizable) CH Fighterstick. It’s specifically not designed to take an extension.
Orion 2 gimbal uses ball bearings that travel along spring loaded cams. This is similar to VKB’s more premium Gunfighter (and Virpil joysticks). The cam’s profile allows customization of the joysticks response along it’s travel, the usual set of cams from these manufacturers being 4 with choice of soft/no center detent and a more notable one and choice between linear and progressive resistance though in Orion’s case the extra cams don’t belong into the basic kit (with progressive resistance, at least on the basis of Gunfighter I have, we are talking about large changes in in spring resistance, going from fingertip controllability to needing to put some arm in to get maximum deflection). The internals are metal, can handle much stronger springs than the Gladiator and are designed to take an extension.
I think you are confused , force sensing kit is for f16 sticks that almost dont move at all (quarter inch almost only), similar to the X65 from saitek
For airbus sticks it moves normal like any normal stick
You are right of course.