UPDATE: Thanks to the community I now learned that you can disable the deadzone and turn the light grey slew-mini stick into a 5 way hat through the SimAppPro software, and it keeps working even if you are not running it afterwards. Thanks for the help! Now I really don't have much against this stick :)

The hand brake notion is interesting as several types - particularly well known being the Spitfire - employed that scheme. I encountered it flying a Yak 52 which also used compressed air as the Spit did. Just grab the handle on the stick to apply brakes which were also applied differentially based on the position of the rudder bar. Very elegant!

Congratulations on your purchase. P.S. looking forward to your new campaign! Enjoy and safe flying..

Okay, I finally got the fourth piece of my system this morning (the stick grip) and got to try it out. The system isn't perfect, but I gotta say, this stick is absolutely amazing! The first plane I flew was the L-39ZA in DCS. I did this because since 2007 until my recent retirement, I was a maintenance tech specializing in avionics at a place that specializes in L-39 maintenance and refurbishment. I have flown in an L-39 many, many times and have some stick time in this aircraft. Even though the Winwing stick is not FFB which would be appropriate since the L-39 is all manual control surfaces (no hydraulics), it still felt spot on. There is absolutely no slop in the stick, once it is calibrated, the stick returns to the exact same position every time. And the resistance increases proportionally as you move away from center. It just feels right. Can't say enough good about it. I like the way all the hats and most of the buttons feel and it seems to be ergonomically sound. I got the F-16 grip cuz it has one more hat than the F-18 grip. I also ordered the add-on module for the rumble motor although I haven't received it yet. I got that because the stock F-16 stick doesn't have an X/Y axis which I use a lot for strafing in space sims. Anyway, if I had to say a negative about the stick and base, it would be the way the second stage of the trigger feels. Instead of a switch clicking, it feels more like a cam overcoming a spring or something. It just feels weird to me, but really not much of an issue. I also love the throttle and base. I will be adding the finger lift kit for afterburner and cut off, however I have a bit more dislikes on that. To me, the arrangement of the knobs and switches feels kind of haphazard. Like, we have a couple switches here but we need one more so lets stick it in here between these knobs. Also, and this is just personal preference, all of the knobs and switches are pre-labeled to mostly FA-18 nomenclature. Now, I love the DCS Hornet and I fly it frequently. But I fly many other aircraft and spacecraft as well. I would have preferred more generic labels on the thing. I have also noticed that the hat switches are a good deal stiffer on the throttle than they are on the stick. Again, not much of an issue. Overall so far I would probably give it a 9 out of 10.

The trigger paddle is useful for many things. It can be a safety/master arm for the actual trigger, brake, or separate cannon selector and trigger (think Ka-50).

gonna buy this for sure, thanks for the review!

getting ready to pull the trigger on this joystick top for my Libra base, been flying the A10 and F16

The brake lever axis is SO much easier taxiing the Spitfire than my beloved Warthog, which will be my daughter's hand me down when she's old enough :) Re the trigger paddle lever, it's really nice as a safety lever for the MiG15 and others that have a safety instead of a master arm switch. I have a TM Warthog so the upgrade was a luxury, but it is so nice. I only used the software to upgrade firmware then uninstalled it.

I got mine 4 weeks ago and i really love the stick even though there are some downsides. Had a Cougar about 20 years ago but when i started again 2 years ago i went with Virpil. Even though they make overall great products, some the of their hats are really terrible. I still have missclicks on my throttle and had many on the mongoose-50 stick. I have no complaints about the Winwing hats but Virpil is clearly better on the axis side. I turned the deadzone in the software to 0 but still have way more center play than with the Virpil WarBRD base. Also the paddle lever seems to have different resistances throughout its way. The trigger guard axis seems to work fine on the other hand. If you got size 10 hands like me or even bigger you probably might find the stick rather small and it will take you a while to get your thumb from the cms hat to the top without colliding with the add-on hats on the left. But afterall, as mentioned before it's a great stick and i love the hats and buttons. I just wish i could put it on my Virpil base.

Personally for me the suction cups on my stick works likes God glue, no matter where I push the stick even fully to the right with max force for 1 min, it didnt even slip once. At one point I tried moving my base instead I moved my entire desk

I want a hotas setup from them. Great review.

A very good review. Thank you

Thanks for honest feedback

Great review!

This might have already been suggested, but maybe you can simplify the vibration setup by using the in game dcs force feedback settings. i dodnt know if this would work, but it seems worth a try

Hello Reflected, Thank you for the video. I upgraded from t.16000m to Virpil (can not compare with WinWing but I think it is similar). I am very happy with the upgrade but even with t.16000m it is possible to bind everything necessary when you use modifires. I used 2 buttons (btn 2 and btn 3) as modifires on throttle = suddenly 3 hats on the stick :-) And I totaly aggree that for its price there is no match for t.16000m

Had my T1600m for 4 years, great HOTAS ( stick could do with 1 more hat switch) ( throttle could do with a better slew) Looking to swap to a F15EX orion 2 + F16EX stick

Have you talked to Winwing techs about it? (the vibration issue) I am interested in buying that stick and your video was very informative, thanks! Am hoping I might not have to run the SimmApp Pro software, but we'll see.

What solid review. I dig that narrative style and info about the stick. The vibration control that's a bit of a bummer. I hope the user interface is improve. (Is that a German keyboard layout?)

They have finally opened up an USA store. About to order.

I also came off the TM 16000M. Can't say it was as good as you said, but I'm glad you liked this one. I went with the baseline rather than with the EX kit, should arrive in a few weeks. Wish I could've nabbed the F/A-18 but the price + shipping wasn't quite up my alley, seems like switching up with the EX kit later on might be the better way to do it anyway, brings it kinda closer to a Russian style while still being a western baseline with more buttons available than the F/A-18.

Awesome your new stick!! Full of buttons hahaha By the way, I use the T16000M FCS stick + throttle + rudder pedals and I'm happy with the kit.... I can bind everything that's needed for F-16, F-18, F-14 and all others planes.

Thank you Reflected for review. have you tried or have knowledge about possibility of using standard Microsoft DirectX API with the vibration motor? Does it come with suport for it or it is not compatible and not detected by DCS? (I mean the the API through the Microsoft Force Feedback Joystick are handled).

I bought the Orion 2 F-18 HOTAS set, and love it so much I may get the F-16 set as well. Though right now I'm only flying the Hornet, as I'm still learning my way around DCS. Winwing has truly impressed me with the quality of their gear. I hope they stick around for a long time.

That you are flight simming on a laptop blows my mind. The FPS drop you have from Winwing is likely due to it updating too frequently. You can increase the interval (slower updates) to recoup some performance while maintaining some functionality. One risk of increasing the interval is that some of the rotary control syncing breaks, but you don't have one of those so you're probably OK for now.

Well, at 12:42 you are talking about how the desktop model kind of obscures the laptop screen. I notice you have a backlit keyboard (albiet with some strange characters) , and you mentioned needing to fit this stuff into a backpack. Have you considered using a cheap native 1080p projector? Then you could enjoy the benifit of a larger screen.

What's the LapTop brand and model? is still "powerful" enough for DCS? Nice video 😀

My only real complaint is that the vibration motor only works with the add on buttons installed which I don’t use. The NWS/MSL Step is also wrong, but that I care less about because it’s more useful

Quick question: The hat switch in place of the missile step button seen to soft versus the thumb hat switch in the unit I recived, is this the case with your unit?

Hi reflected, how you doing? Getting mine this week. any chance your vibration profile can be shared? also did the community create any other one? thanks, fly high, fly safe

The twist axis add on is always out of stock. This is the only reason I have not yet ordered this HOTAS setup. No twist is no buy.

Possibly good news: RhinoFFB is working to add Winwing compatibility... so FFB might come back. I still used the MSFFB2 EXTENSIVELY, but imho it doesn't compare against even cheap Hotas (like the X52pro), so I too didn't have any force-feedback for the longest time. Here's to hope!

How comfortable is it for tabletop-use? I don't have the space to use a desk mount so I'm concerned that my arm will be in stuck in uncomfortable positions just to hold on to the stick due to how tall it looks. I'm currently using the VKB Gladiator Evo so this looks like it's substantially taller than the VKB.

Hey @ReflectedSimulations can you confirm if you are now able to use the vibration without the FPS drop? Based on my research, it looks like WinWing fixed this issue with their 1.7.52 software update.

WinWing: "How many HOTAS buttons do you need?" Customers: "Yes."

I like the built in Dead zone...

Hey man I love the new Debden eagles campaing, hey did they ever fix the issue you were having withy the software slowing the game down?

hello friends. Please ask a question, can this grip be placed on a vilpil mongoose base like the cm3. thank you

links?? you should post links so we can shop for your setup

have physical issues and can't use pedals... when will WinWing EVER have z-axis adaptors back in stock? would love one, but have to have the twist.

you are doing all your campaigns on a laptop ? respect

Do you have any experience with "Joypro" software for binding your stick etc.?

how has the stick done in the past 10 months? Anything broke? Problems?

I was ready to order and they always say out of stock!!! Is there any other way to order...by phone???

Hey, I hope that someone can help me with my problem but everytime i try to fill out the receipt it doesn't recognise my home adress or any adress in my coutry (Germany) please help, because i would really like to buy the new orion 2. thanks!

Want.

So, if you order the EX, does it come with a shaker and the add on buttons there on the left or is that an add on?

Is it that much expensive to ship? I mean, I was ordering one and the shipping was 100+ usd.

I'd like to riposte for 'best cheap joystick' being - from direct experience ! - the TW Cobra HOTAS, which gives you all the hats and buttons to make the F-16 and F-18 possible, for less money than the TM. Which is why I bought it - and it is better than the TM for giving ease of use in DCS. But the WinWing is really good on first look.

The 2 switches on the left of the joystick...is that an add on? Can that be added to the Winwing F-16 EX Viper which only has 4 switches? Is that what they call the Shaker add on?

The nws button is inaccurate, thats the only complaint i have about it

After having the stick for about 9 months, do you have anything else positive or negative to add about this stick?

Looks like you base is mounted wrong onto the base place, rotate the plate 180 degrees, then you will be good

i took the orion2 full option and its realy great

By a 5-way HAT you mean 4 directions plus a press?

Looks like the extra buttons and "lever" on the EX emulates a bit Russian aircraft.

How easy is it to carry that in a bag and travel with it? I do like seeing a review from someone who travels a lot instead of someone with a $10k+ simpit, though.

Is there a rudder twist function on this?

I am trying to order one, but I've been unable to add my address to my account. I get some sort of error with my "detailed address". (ValidMultiUnit:The address does not include a validated suite or unit number). Any help would be appreciated. Also, I can't seem to get anyone to answer a service ticket.

how much was the Tax im Rupiah?

Have you had any problems with it?

Do you HAVE to use the software or can I just plug it in and use DCS to map all the buttons?

Well I just broke my having a dogfight with a Su-27 I don't have a year with this 🙃

Only issue i have with this is that Winwing just HAS to add extra shit to their products. Talking about the fact that they replaced the NWS button with a hat switch.. also they don't sell an adapter for the TM Warthog anymore, so that's just a thing now.

Just scored the F-16ex stick and HOTAS throttle. Smokes my Thrustmaster Warthog setup.

I just ordered T16000m for my dcs f16 before watch this video :(

Ever heard of VKB Gunfighter Ultimate?

why would you do that?? because the F16 control doesn't have that crap hanging on it.

No man I am unemployed!!

I'm not going to talk about the base, but the GRIP of the winwing in every way LOOKS cheaper than the Thrustmaster grip... The Thrustmaster grip looks and feels WAY more high quality. The buttons are STIFF, while in yours they seem to be moving very easily as you slide your fingers over..The screws on the winwing are not hidden properly like at 9:35 , the seams on the top of the stick are also very visible...

What kind of a review doesn't show how the gimbal moves, is it centered and things like that... that's a bad review