15.11.2013

If you are looking into buying this stick, chances are you're a player of DCS World and own/are looking to own the A10C module. I use my Warthog for both the A10C module and the Flaming Cliffs 3 module within DCS so this is what my review applies to.First of all, the stick is BEAUTIFUL. When you first unpack it and see the array of HOTAS buttons/switches, feel the cold metal of the stick, and experience the sheer mass of both components, you know you've invested in a quality product. The stick & the throttle provide unmatched HOTAS capability, ESPECIALLY if you are playing the A10C module as the controls are a perfect replica of the stick & throttle found in a real A10C Thunderbolt II.In addition to the perfect control authenticity, you are also given the extreme convenience of the system already being mapped to the game- with the real functions of each button & switch doing what it's supposed to. With the exception of trim switch on the stick (which by default is set to look around), the stick is absolutely "plug & play".The components feel heavy, solid, and easy to use in your hands. Though the throttle is largely plastic, it is a heavy, solid plastic that feels durable and still features an array of metal switches on it. The two-stage gun trigger on the stick is a nice authentic touch to add; first stage to stabilise the plane's angle to face the ground target you are about to shoot, second stage fires the famous 30mm gatling gun that the aircraft is built around. Some complain that the second stage of the trigger requires quite a bit of force, and it does, though I just view this as a realistic touch & adds to the kick-a** experience when you're strafing some targets on the ground. The switches on the throttle panel are a nice touch and are all mapped in game also - flipping the APU switch yourself during startup and hearing the whine afterwards of it firing up is very satisfying. Among the obvious points, one advantage that I didn't anticipate is better flight control. Because the stick is smooth and heavy, your control movements are much better executed and it really does teach you to be a better pilot.With regard to using the stick for other modules or even totally different games, the assortment of buttons and switches available will not leave you short of commands to map. When flying the semi-sim module within DCS world which is Flaming Cliffs 3, using a heavy metal stick with full HOTAS functionality just feels heavenly in an air-to-air battle. You will have to map your commands to other modules; though this is no disadvantage as you'd be in the exact same scenario as with any other stick you buy.For me there are only 2 little niggles, which are so small that it doesn't retract it from my 5 star rating. Firstly, the switch/mouse on the throttle which controls the slewing of your sensors in-game is very small and feels quite unsubstantial. Apparently in the real aircraft, the slew control is done by the entire button rocker moving around which would be a lot easier, rather than the tiny mouse pointer you are given. And secondly, though it is authentic, the stick is without a built in rudder function. You cannot twist the stick, which means for rudder control you will have to fork out another £100 and get yourself a pair of Saitek pedals.All in all I am very happy with my Warthog, and it feels like it will last me good few years, as a stick of this price should. If you're a DCS A10C player and are debating between this and the Saitek X-65F - get this. The control mapping is done for you, you get a nice two stage trigger for your gun PAC, and let's face it you'll be as close as is possible to flying the real thing.

18.4.2012

Having owned or tried almost every more or less serious HOTAS available in PC Gaming market, I can confidently state that HOTAS Warthog is among the best money can buy today.More than enough has been said and written already about this wonderful controller, so I am not going to throw in yet another bunch of relatively meaningless "WOW"s, "IT'S JUST FANTASTIC!"s etc. Let's talk about some picky details, and some practical considerations, that are less often reported in user reviews, but are equally as important BEFORE you buy the product, as reading the WOWs of happy owners LOL!1) It IS BIG and HEAVY! Especially the throttle part. So make sure you know how you plant the two devices.No flimsy shelves here! The stick is tall, meaning that if you place it on your desk, it will be in an even more acqward position relative to your body. This stick almost REQUIRES lower-level installation somewhere between your legs. Remember, unlike the COUGAR, which was modelled after F-16 Block 50 - a side-stick type of cockpit, the Warthog replicats the stick of A10, which has a centrally located stick.2) Stick stiffness is very comfortable: it's softer than the original HOTAS Cougar, the older TM F22Pro/TQS combo, and muuuuch smoother than the ancient TM X-Fighter. Much less of a workout gear than previous TM's top controllers :) And, because of this, it's a lot more stable free-standing on the desk, especially given a much larger (and heavier) base plate.3) Throttles are trickier. While the movement itself is smoother than HOTAS Throttle (even with tightenend tension adjustment mechanism), however, detents are where all the fun starts. As you can read from reviews, Warthog throttle allows you to have one or two detents: Cut-Off and WEP, or just the Cut-Off. You can remove the WEP detent, but there's nothing you could to with Idle Detent. Both detents require handles to be pulled up a little to come over the detent. They're spring-returned down once past the detend point. There's no user-friendly way to adjust the spring force for the "pull-up" function, and unfortunately, the spring is IMO way too stiff. The result is immediate: this heavy beast jumps up every time you pull the handles to go over detents. The only way to avoid it is to somehow fix the throtte base on a surface.4) The new programming interface (T.A.R.G.E.T.) in my view is worse than the original FOXY application, it's a lot less obvious. However, it's powerful, flexible and does the job. Just takes time for us old-school Cougar users to get used to it :-)5) Connection and DX functionality. There's one thing I would like to note here. Unlike Cougar, the stick and the throttle each have a separate USB cable that plugs into the PC. For the users, it means two things: first, you will need more ports than with almost any other HOTAS on the market (Cougar, Saitek X52/X52Pro/X65F etc). Second, by default DX will see two separate controllers. It's not a problem for most modern titles, because they can interface with multiple DirectInput controllers. However, if you want to run a REALLY ANCIENT title, which only knows how to work with one DX controller, you'll not be able to use it in default mode.To fix this, T.A.R.G.E.T. can COMBINE the two into a single virtual HOTAS WARTHOG controller, which is a fantastic feature. The only downside is that you'll lose some of the DX buttons as the total number of physical buttons/switches on the two is beyond 32, which is the current DirectInput limit per single controller ID.That's about it, folks, hope some of you will find this review useful.Clear skies!SV_huMMer out.

21.9.2012

I bought a set of these about a year ago for my flight simulator while living in Canada, and a visiting client was so incredibly impressed with them when he tried that I gave them to him. I was moving countries so didn't want to lug these with me. Now in UK, I have purchased this set again and the out-of-the-box experience the second time is as good as the first.You can spend an absolute fortune on flight sim stuff to get realism. There are guys forking out tens of thousands to get the ultimate realism. You can also get set up for about £100 with a joystick and have a bit of fun. And then there are products which cost quite a bit more but add immense realism to the experience without costing a fortune.The Thrustmaster Warthog falls into this category. Your ability to connect with the aircraft you're flying comes down to your joystick and throttle. This gives you a load of controls you can configure and the quality and feel is like the real thing (I am a real pilot). Compared with a £50 joystick this may seem expensive. But what you're getting is a replica of the real A-10 joystick and throttle and it seems to be built to the same spec. Almost everything is metal and switches and controls have a firm definite feel to them. The backlighting is really novel too.Although this is modeled on the A-10 (military aircraft) you can use this on any aircraft type including Cessnas or airliners. Thrustmaster include some configuration tool to program the buttons but you can do this from within FSX as it's recognised as a standard joystick. I would, however, recommend a tool called FSUIPC (written by Pete Dawson). This works with FSX and allows you to create different configurations of input controls such as this, for each aircraft you fly. So for example you can use FSUIPC to configure a 4 engine aircraft so that your left throttle is engines 1 and 2 and the right is 3 and 4. You can also adjust the sensitivity to give much more control over the lower end of the throttle range. Additionally it allows you to configure your control for helicopters, e.g. left throttle is collective and the right is throttle. Combined with this joystick this tool is awesome. FSUIPC just picks up on your aircraft and switches automatically. So if you buy this joystick and throttle I would recommend checking FSUIPC out. (Disclaimer: not affiliated with FSUIPC nor Peter Dawson, just an honest recommendation).If you spend 10+ hours a week on flying games, then you will really appreciate this equipment. It's solidly built and looks amazing. If you're more than a hobby/occasional flight sim enthusiast, and don't want to be spending several thousands, then this has to be top of your list, with a set of rudder pedals and if you're into airliner flying then an autopilot, and perhaps some radio/nav modules. I have tried other offerings in this price range and can tell you these are the absolute king, and you'll feel like one using them.

5.2.2016

Just the best Hotas you can buy, I keep seeing the price being refered to as one of the "cons" with this kit but believe me, you are getting a heck of a lot of HOTAS for your money. My last HOTAS was also a Thrustmaster, the F22pro with TQS throttle, cost way more than the Warthog and was all (very high quality) plastic. BUT that stick and throttle was in daily use for 23 years! I never needed to buy another setup, when gameports were abolished, I converted it to USB and I fully expect it to last another 23 years too if it wasn't for my need to replace it with the Warthog. Like many others I have fallen in love with the A10-C simulation by DCS,

18.10.2010

I received my Cougar MFD's recently and was eager to install them. I had been considering buying another set of Quickshot MasterPilots which I'd used in years gone by, but sadly, they're not USB and they're a real pain in the butt to setup. Having said that, the MasterPilots were brilliant once you'd done the legwork.The Cougars on the other hand, are a piece of cake to install, but are pretty much useless as a programming device because they're simply not programmable!! If you're thinking of buying these and then assigning keystrokes to all the buttons - forget it! You can't. Instead, they have some built-in profiles for Microsoft Flightsim. That's fine if FS is your bag,

30.1.2011

At least not yet.I had two bricked units in under a month both due to the same catastrophic failure inherent in all Warthogs in relation to X58 chipsets.Seems someone at Thrustmaster didn't do their Quality Assurance homework on one of the most popular boards on the market the result being many bricked devices.While some Asus or X58 chipset motherboard owners have unbricked devices it is usually because they have run them via a external powered usb hub and NOT connected to the main board.Please consider carefully before buying.The HOTAS itself is wonderful, a complete joy to use; the level of mechanical excellence, detail,

13.6.2013

I agree with all the previous 5 Star reviews but just want to add my little bit. Firstly, the combined gross weight of the package is 10Kg. Being over generous, let us say that the brown box, the product box and the polystyrene (?Spelling?) weighs in at a kilo. That leaves 9Kg for the devices. Each unit has on the bottom of it what looks like a 1/8" steel plate so they don't move around on the desk at all whilst in operation. The devices ooze quality. From a quality point of view though, I only have one complaint and one wish.The complaint is that the Red Thumb switch on the right hand throttle feels a little flimsy. The wish is that there is so much metal on the devices,

22.6.2016

Having owned this for a few months now i will give my opinion.It is a heavy beefy piece of kit, sit it on the desk, and be prepared to work out when you want to move it!It is very fluid in it movement, no jerky movements, it is great, and very well put together.I have owned various other HOTAS, and they were ok, or even good- right up to the point of breaking- in some cases it was broken out of the box - Saitek/madcats- Never again!pros and cons++ it is solid metal, Solid- OH YES - the joystick part that you hold on to with your right hand weighs more than my old X55(which was good, but cak build quality) and that is not even including the base- it is solid.++ it is heavy,

19.9.2011

After using DCS Warthog flight sim for a couple of weeks I decided that it was what I'd been waiting for, a totaly complete flight sim. The only thing it needed was a totaly complete flight system, the Thrustmaster Warthog Hotas. Yes i know it's not cheap but until you feel the quality (and weight) of the Hotas you won't understand that it's worth the expense. It instantly (yes instantly since it was set up perfectly for the DCS F/Sim) transformed the experience from simulated joy to absolute reality. The throttle unit is a peice of the A-10 c's dashboard cut out and mounted in a quality metal housing. Every switch and hat on both the throttle and joystick work exactly like the real aircraft's do,

25.10.2013

The trouble with study sims such as DCS A10c or Falcon 4 is that they are so detailed and complex that having the right hardware really does make a difference. Investing in products such as the Thrustmaster Warthog, Track IR and these Cougar flight panels involves expenditure which dwarfs the initial purchase price of the software itself, but they really do add to the immersion.I've got these Cougars set into a panel which I fabricated so that they have small monitor behind them, with the size of the extended displays calibrated for an exact match. Of course you can display the contents of the MFDs on a monitor without using the Cougars, which I did previously - and set the display to a larger size,

3.4.2016

Superb top-quality HOTAS with rugged metal construction and deceptively ergonomic design worthy of an aircraft. Has more switches than you will ever need: never have to touch your keyboard again while playing Elite Dangerous!The use of scripting software to manage certain aspects of the switch inputs is advised, but this is simple to use, there are many online guides on how to make the best use of it, and it can be downloaded completely free from the Thrustmaster website.The most prominent issue with this HOTAS versus it's competitors is the lack of Z-axis input (typically used to yaw a craft left or right) but the most authentic way to yaw in any flight sim is to use pedals anyway. Alternatively,

17.11.2015

With delivery I bought these for £46. That's £23 per unit. When you think of it in those terms these bezels are amazing value.As soon as you take them out of the box you can't but be impressed with the build quality. They are not just solid, but chunky, and as a consequence they felt somehow larger than I expected. There's a definite sense here that you're getting more than you paid for.In a unpowered USB hub these light up brightly, and impressively, when connected. The light can be tuned from dazzling to barely perceptible to completely off through the Windows interface.In use the buttons have barely perceptible feedback, there is no definite click. But that is apparently how the real thing feels,

15.7.2012

Good quality kit from Thrustmaster. There is enough info in the other reviews for this - works straight out of the box on Win7 64bit without need for any drivers etc to be manually installed. Have set it up for Falcon 4 bms and it works flawlessly.If you want MFDs with screens, you can buy small TFT displays and the relevant software to use these for that, too (not from Thrustmaster, though).Some others here have stated that the description is incorrect in that the MFD buttons are not fully programmable, but this is incorrect - they are both easily assignable in-game and are fully programmable in all the usual ways, including using scripts. This is possible by using Thrustmaster's own TARGET software,

1.4.2018

If you've the cash to spend on a quality flight stick setup, then this is the product for you.yes, the price is steep, but you will be glad you invested in the Warthog. Quality metal construction, of both throttle and stick, solid buttons and switches that feel firm to the grip and will not snap or break, with a bit of pressure.Thrustmaster have gone the distance with its Warthog and you can feel the quality, when using a sim - responsive and sturdy, no snapping off bits with this beast, when you have to perform a sharp manoeuvre in your simulated vehicle.I use it for DCS and Elite Dangerous, without difficulty, the sheer amount of buttons and switches makes this an immersive experience in gaming and you do get Thrustmaster's T.A.R.G.E.T software,

8.6.2012

I had the Saitek X52 since i came out (back in 2005 I believe) and gave me countless hours of fun, mostly with Lomac, flaming cliffs,black shark, Flight simulator 9/X and IL2 and lately with DCS A10C. But the TM Warthog just plays in a different league.The thing is huge, and when i say huge i mean it, the base metal plate of the stick is massive. Both Throttle and Stick are very sturdy, heavy and feel great.It is very precise, you need to apply much more force to move the stick that in the x52 (which seems like a kids' toy in comparison)The TM Warthog is an exact replica of the A10C, so flying DCS A10C is now much, much better, some tweaking in the default mapping and you are ready to go,

Thrustmaster MFD Cougar Pack - Reviews

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