Flight sim kit

[Whiternoise]

I'm learning to glide, and since i'm not going to get much done over the holidays - trips are in term time with the university club - i reckon that getting a flight simulator and the peripherals would be a good idea. The only really approved simulator for gliding is a program called Condor - which is fine (it's cheaper than buying FSX or X-Plane).

My current joystick is a joke, it's an old cheapo PC Line one - and i think getting a new stick is in order! I was thinking getting something like the Saitek Cyborg Evo but ideally it needs to have force feedback for accuracy's sake. Bear in mind this is gliding i'm doing, so the throttle is going to be my airbrakes and i'm not bothered about millions of hat switches and extra buttons - no autopilot here!

Secondly i need to get some rudder pedals. Is there a way i can do this cheaply? I can use a stick that twists, but that would be useless for flying practice!

Any advice?

[GoNz0]

only pedals i would suggest are the saitek pro flight rudder pedals, i can also say the x52 pro joystick and throttle are a really good buy but not force feedback, i went from a force feedback to the x52 and was very happy with it.

[Whiternoise]

From a look on the Condor forums, the Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 is highly recommended, so i might look into one of those from ebay!

I am tempted by the X-52, but it's a bit too... complicated!

[Knoxville]

Some of the links might be out of date but this thread might be of some help - Joystick Information

Personally I used to get on just fine with a Saitek Cyborg for IL2 and Lock-on I never really missed the force feedback if I'm honest

[GoNz0]

From a look on the Condor forums, the Sidewinder Force Feedback 2 is highly recommended, so i might look into one of those from ebay!

I am tempted by the X-52, but it's a bit too... complicated!

not as complicated as flying a glider !

[Tonka777]

I use a cyborg evo with X-Plane and although there is no native force feedback in X-Plane, its definitely something i would look for from a new joystick as it really helps to maintain a degree of realism.

The only time you'll find a yoke or stick as loose a non force feedback joystick in real life is if the control surfaces are no longer attached!

I used to use a logitech force 3D stick. It wasn't very good when i bought it, it immediately required quite large null zones to get over the noise around the centre point. That noise got gradually worse over a fairly short length of time, and when i started using something more realistic than MSFS it was a nightmare!

If you want to get really serious, then you could consider getting a Leo Bodnar Joystick Controller to give you a decent resolution on whatever stick you buy or build.

edit; the Saitek Pro Flight stuff is worth looking at and there are always the Flightlink bits if you're really serious about it!

[Whiternoise]

Heh, flying a glider is easy (ish)

Finding the right stuff to simulate it with isn't!