So, I've got myself a Warthog HOTAS, but quite honestly, that thing is cracking me up to a point where I am about to return to my old X-52.
The reason is the Joysticks spring. It's IMHO just ridiculous. Since I hav a computer table with a keyboard in front, I have the stick on the desk, which means I have to use it with basically a stretched out arm. And honestly, this spring is killing me. With the arm outstretched like this, fighting against the spring means I can not control anything with it.
So, either I'll get a dumbbell and start working out just to train my right arm, or I'll do something about that spring. I saw videos where people remove the big one, but that means the thing won'T center anymore, which is in itself ridiculous.
So, anyone got any idea what to do with it ? Any replacement springs available ?
I'm flying 'side-stick', I have a small pedestal (some cheap wooden ikea stool) that I cut down to the right height. I have it just right of my chair when I'm flying, at a height and position so that my elbow is at a 90° angle when the stick is centered. That works pretty well for me. After my stick 'repairs', centering is even a bit stronger than normal and it is still ok with that setup (I would describe my upper-body strength as below average, for reference...)
If that is not an option, you could try to put in stronger 'counter-springs' (the four small springs under the black plastic ring). Since they effectively press up against the main spring, this might help. Maintaining a good balance between those spring-forces might be tricky though.
I don't know if there are replacement-springs ready to buy, I've seen people ordering custom springs from hardware shops...
If putting the stick on the ground in front of you would be an option, many people are using stick extensions. That would have the added benefit of making high-precision stuff a bit easier and probably giving it a more realistic feel (since most center-sticks in aircrafts are usually hinged on the floor)
https://warthog-extensions-by-sahaj.com/my-products/ (I saw that there are actually springs on that site, but I think stronger ones to compensate for the extensions...)
A last tip, but more as a side-note because I know many people don't do it enough (and sorry if it's an unwanted/unnecessary lecture):
always trim out your aircraft so that it keeps it's desired attitude while the stick is centered. As soon as you change the aircraft's attitude for more than just a few seconds (say for a turn, or a quick altitude correction), trim it out. That's how it's done irl, even small aircraft like a Cessna Skyhawk can develop signficant rudder forces and holding it just by hand would be very straining. That way you'll never hold the stick in an extrem position for more than a few seconds, most of the time you'll probably just do very small corrections.
That's probably not the final solution to the issue but might help to alleviate it a bit. And it's just good practice, regardless of what stick is used.
Getting a small stool to put on the side might be a good option, yeah. The problem is really having my arm stretched out at all times, so that's the problem for me.
And yeah, I always trim
McGregor Wrote:And you call your self German? Tssss....
When I was in the army that German greeting was no longer... custom
Quote:The answer to your problem is of course some good 'ol German engineering... I'm thinking of getting these 
https://www.monstertech.de/en/product/jo...ble-mount/
Yeah I saw these, but they cost 100 per piece... that's just too much money for essentially nothing.
McGregor Wrote: I'm thinking of getting these
https://www.monstertech.de/en/product/jo...ble-mount/
Yeah, but they are expensive (basically, 200 Euro for the full set), plus, I have a table with a secondary board for the the keyboard, so if I want to keep using the keyboard, I have to mount the stick pretty far to the right...
Yeah it is pretty expensive. It was mostly for the tongue in cheek effect
