This is the WinWing Orion 2 F-16EX joystick sent to me by WinWing to provide a hardware review for you. This includes the extra vibration motor plus a stick extension.
I think the last Il-2 content I bought was the C-47... other than that there hasn't been much regarding Il-2 that has interested me a lot unfortunately.
For those of us in Canada, Winwing stuff is WAY cheaper than any other sim hardware. I paid $331 CAD all-in ($240 USD) for my Orion 2 F15 throttle (took 5 days to get to me), and it will cost me the same for the F16 stick. That's even cheaper than the now very outdated TM Warthog. I currently have a VKB Gladiator NXT stick (cost me about $230 CAD) so I'm not looking to upgrade currently. Virpil stuff (to Canada) is more than double the cost...way out to lunch.
I've been looking at this, though in the package with the throttle base and the F-15EX throttle grip. I'm so used to the F-16/A-10 style grip I just cannot move away from it, it just works so well for pretty much everything, and the EX with the 2 added hats would be a huge bonus, not to mention all the additional functionality the extra center-push buttons would bring. I've had my warthog for I think like 13-14 years now, and its really starting to show its age. there's no reason it should cost what it does by today's standard. You bring up a good point with the TDC, and personally, I've never really been a fan of slewing ANYTHING with my right hand, and have always defaulted to putting any slewable control on my left hand (throttle) -- with the warthog, I did upgrade to the delta sims slew switch and I find it to not be worth it personally. its good, but it doesn't solve the the issue, if anything it makes it kinda worse as it has more throw. I always rebind the slew to the COOLIE switch right next to it instead, or I simplify the radio switch and use that as a slew and use the unused depress functions for radio comms.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I had my Warthog for a really long time too, and did the same as you using the TDC on the hat switch because the actual one sucked. It did take a hot minute to get used to using my right hand for the TDC though, and I'm looking forward to changing my throttle out so I can go back to the left. There's some good options around the Warthog price point that are better
I have the F16ex also, and for a while I used the extra hats , especially the grey one for my TDC and I really liked it, I now have the Orion 2 throttle with the F-15E grips and have been experimenting with different control placement, so it will be interesting to see what I end up with. I had the X-56 for years so there is a lot of muscle memory I need to change. I want to use the EX controls on the stick for the backseat controls in the F-15E and also the Apache Tedacs.
First of all, thanks for the video. I have exactly the same joystick and extension, but my problem is that when I have installed everything, the sensitivity makes any simulator unplayable. I understand that you have to tune the joystick curve within DCS so that in the first parts of the journey it is not so sensitive. Could you please share the joystick curve data in DCS? I have tried but it has not been possible. At the moment I have not been able/know how to configure it properly
Ok, so looking at my DCS curves I have a deadzone of 4. However, the pitch and roll is linear...so no curve at all for me. Maybe try and recalibrate the stick in the simapp pro software and see if the stick movement correlates to the movement in the picture and graph (on the test tab). What airplane is too sensitive in DCS?
@@RequiemsACTL thanks a lot, maybe deadzone is the trick. I focused in curves and maybe it's not the solution. And re configuration the Joystick in winwing app is necessary.. I will try it. Thanks again 🤗
I have the super libra, with both f18 and F16ex, since I got the extension I hate swapping the sticks, I cant use the EX add on as it interferes and I fly that stick with my hand on the top because the straight angle of the grip, and I mostly fly the f15 and hornet, compared to the viper and hog
Question: if i only plan to fly jets and warbirds, is the Cam/Spring/Damping Extension Kit worth it? It's an additional 50 euros which seems very expensive. What spring force do you get with the standard base?
I think it would be worth it just for the extension alone. Flying jets and warbirds without the extension will increase overall sensitivity because of the reduced stick throw, but if I focus on flying the F16 for a while I take the extension off and go side stick. As for the amount of force needed? I can't really say. With what I have installed in the stick the force I use is minimal compared to what I was used to previously
Im just getting into DCS and don't know a lot about the F-16. Just curious for what the two extra sticks of the EX Modul are used for in real life. Does anybody know?
Have you had simapp pro brick any other USB devices while you were updating your firmware for your joystick? It is something I have seen reports of from people, but I don't know if it is common.
Before you update the firmware, it gives you a warning to unplug all other USB devices. However, I ignored the warning and haven’t had any issues with the many usb peripherals that I have hooked up. Great HOTAS!!
I wish there were reasonably priced consumer grade force feedback hotas systems. Perhaps he's being unreasonable but my IRL pilot friend says flying WW2 planes without it feels frustratingly hokey and unrealistic and thus doesn't play IL-2 with me :(
I used to have FFB (Logitech G940) and while it is nice, like you said there just isn't a cost effective option nowadays that's has a decent quality. As a RL who transitioned away from FFB while flying WWI and Ii sims I can say you get used to not having it pretty quickly. Your friend is missing out imo, but if they want a top FFB stick they should look into the Rhino.
Does somebody hawe some place to get bindings For DCS / MSFS I just got this exact same model, and binding in simulation is hell... ( im new to flight sims ) :)
I had the same issue, wrote them a mail, no reply back at all. Even though I have the Orion2, the F-18 and F-16 stick from them, bought in Nov. this year. I wish that there was a video where it also show where on the stick the binding should be, and not only the settings/Control window.
Glad I bought this stick earlier this year. My Old X56 felt like a toy.
Nice to see you're back. Hopefully some Il2 vids too (new planes like HD1, La5-FN,...). Have a nice day.
I think the last Il-2 content I bought was the C-47... other than that there hasn't been much regarding Il-2 that has interested me a lot unfortunately.
@@RequiemsACTLAh, I understand.
For those of us in Canada, Winwing stuff is WAY cheaper than any other sim hardware. I paid $331 CAD all-in ($240 USD) for my Orion 2 F15 throttle (took 5 days to get to me), and it will cost me the same for the F16 stick. That's even cheaper than the now very outdated TM Warthog. I currently have a VKB Gladiator NXT stick (cost me about $230 CAD) so I'm not looking to upgrade currently. Virpil stuff (to Canada) is more than double the cost...way out to lunch.
I bought Winwing's F-15EX throttle as well to replace the Warthog throttle, that was money well spent for me.
I've been looking at this, though in the package with the throttle base and the F-15EX throttle grip.
I'm so used to the F-16/A-10 style grip I just cannot move away from it, it just works so well for pretty much everything, and the EX with the 2 added hats would be a huge bonus, not to mention all the additional functionality the extra center-push buttons would bring.
I've had my warthog for I think like 13-14 years now, and its really starting to show its age. there's no reason it should cost what it does by today's standard.
You bring up a good point with the TDC, and personally, I've never really been a fan of slewing ANYTHING with my right hand, and have always defaulted to putting any slewable control on my left hand (throttle) -- with the warthog, I did upgrade to the delta sims slew switch and I find it to not be worth it personally. its good, but it doesn't solve the the issue, if anything it makes it kinda worse as it has more throw.
I always rebind the slew to the COOLIE switch right next to it instead, or I simplify the radio switch and use that as a slew and use the unused depress functions for radio comms.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I had my Warthog for a really long time too, and did the same as you using the TDC on the hat switch because the actual one sucked.
It did take a hot minute to get used to using my right hand for the TDC though, and I'm looking forward to changing my throttle out so I can go back to the left. There's some good options around the Warthog price point that are better
I have the F16ex also, and for a while I used the extra hats , especially the grey one for my TDC and I really liked it, I now have the Orion 2 throttle with the F-15E grips and have been experimenting with different control placement, so it will be interesting to see what I end up with. I had the X-56 for years so there is a lot of muscle memory I need to change.
I want to use the EX controls on the stick for the backseat controls in the F-15E and also the Apache Tedacs.
great review :)
First of all, thanks for the video. I have exactly the same joystick and extension, but my problem is that when I have installed everything, the sensitivity makes any simulator unplayable. I understand that you have to tune the joystick curve within DCS so that in the first parts of the journey it is not so sensitive. Could you please share the joystick curve data in DCS? I have tried but it has not been possible. At the moment I have not been able/know how to configure it properly
WIth the extension you really shouldn't need much of a joystick curve. I'm updating DCS now so I'll have a look and get back to you in a little bit.
Ok, so looking at my DCS curves I have a deadzone of 4. However, the pitch and roll is linear...so no curve at all for me. Maybe try and recalibrate the stick in the simapp pro software and see if the stick movement correlates to the movement in the picture and graph (on the test tab).
What airplane is too sensitive in DCS?
@@RequiemsACTL thanks a lot, maybe deadzone is the trick. I focused in curves and maybe it's not the solution. And re configuration the Joystick in winwing app is necessary.. I will try it. Thanks again 🤗
I have the super libra, with both f18 and F16ex, since I got the extension I hate swapping the sticks, I cant use the EX add on as it interferes and I fly that stick with my hand on the top because the straight angle of the grip, and I mostly fly the f15 and hornet, compared to the viper and hog
I like the EX portion for now, but I think once I get a different throttle for a better TDC I'll drop the EX off the stick when I fly the F-16.
Question: if i only plan to fly jets and warbirds, is the Cam/Spring/Damping Extension Kit worth it? It's an additional 50 euros which seems very expensive. What spring force do you get with the standard base?
I think it would be worth it just for the extension alone. Flying jets and warbirds without the extension will increase overall sensitivity because of the reduced stick throw, but if I focus on flying the F16 for a while I take the extension off and go side stick.
As for the amount of force needed? I can't really say. With what I have installed in the stick the force I use is minimal compared to what I was used to previously
Im just getting into DCS and don't know a lot about the F-16. Just curious for what the two extra sticks of the EX Modul are used for in real life. Does anybody know?
The extra piece on the side with those extra two pieces and vibration module is not in the real airplane. Just an extra tacked on for more utility.
Have you had simapp pro brick any other USB devices while you were updating your firmware for your joystick? It is something I have seen reports of from people, but I don't know if it is common.
Before you update the firmware, it gives you a warning to unplug all other USB devices. However, I ignored the warning and haven’t had any issues with the many usb peripherals that I have hooked up.
Great HOTAS!!
No I didn't have the software brick any of my other peripherals
Hello, i planning to buy orion 2 joystick combo but i can't see any mount on their website. What desk mount do you use on this video?
I use Monstertech mounts
I wish there were reasonably priced consumer grade force feedback hotas systems. Perhaps he's being unreasonable but my IRL pilot friend says flying WW2 planes without it feels frustratingly hokey and unrealistic and thus doesn't play IL-2 with me :(
I used to have FFB (Logitech G940) and while it is nice, like you said there just isn't a cost effective option nowadays that's has a decent quality. As a RL who transitioned away from FFB while flying WWI and Ii sims I can say you get used to not having it pretty quickly. Your friend is missing out imo, but if they want a top FFB stick they should look into the Rhino.
Does somebody hawe some place to get bindings For DCS / MSFS I just got this exact same model, and binding in simulation is hell...
( im new to flight sims ) :)
No customer service!!!! So NO THANKS
I had the same issue, wrote them a mail, no reply back at all. Even though I have the Orion2, the F-18 and F-16 stick from them, bought in Nov. this year. I wish that there was a video where it also show where on the stick the binding should be, and not only the settings/Control window.