The realms of flight simulator are getting better by the week and to get the best from the excellent aircraft now available you need a decent joystick,the Wingman Force 3D certainly fulfills that slot nicely with a clever in-built flight load which gives you that 'seat of the pants' flying feel whether you are handling a Concorde or a Piper Cub.
This ergonomic stick with its versatile software has a nice feel to it,you can rest your thumb and forefinger on the sides and immedietly can see the difference between a conventional joystick with its smooth as silk operation,there is no nasty bias springs to contend with just ultra smooth operation to let you get on with your flying.
The configuration is a 2 axis stick with a throttle lever,twist handle for the rudder and a 8-Way hat switch and no less than 7 programmable buttons which are useful for allocating to flaps,undercarriage,and views.
The unit has its own power supply to fire it up,there is no indicator light but a hefty click as it is plugged in shows that is functioning properly.
I liked the way that it immediately detected the software and the necessary drivers installed without any fuss but the proof was to be in th actual test flight-
From the moment the engine was started the stick responded as I taxied across the bumpy grass and lined up,as the ground loads diminished so did the stick recognise this and the aircraft smoothed out as it rotated,the aileron response was beauitiful and the elevator a tad twitchy,this was soon fixed by adjusting the sensitivity values and nothing to worry about,as I lifted the undercarriage there was an hefty 'clonk' very realistic indeed and all adding to the realism factors.
To get an idea of the set up for the program buttons here is a screenshot-
Once the various axis are set up they stay put,likewise the buttons on the right which give plenty of scope for your various control inputs.
The device gets my following ratings,out of six stars-
Value-***** ( £39.99 at PC World )
User Friendly-****
Ergonomic layout-*****
Software installation-*****
Flying feel-******
Set up of controls-*****
Linear Mode
