Thanks for your video. I have been thinking of purchasing a collective and now I know that's what I'm going to do. Your video really helped me make up my mind. Thank you and good flying.
Awesome! That’s a rice nice piece of flight sim hardware! Also worth looking into is the counter-balance kit that they offer for the collective. Makes it operate even smoother and is very reasonably priced. I wonder if they include them these days?
I ordered the counter balance for mine as well. On the fence on if I want to get the Apache grip. I modified the mount from what is shown in this video. Originally the Hawk 60 grip barely clears the throttle base, but now I can slide the entire collective back on a rail so it's now possible to use the Apache grip.
The rail I'm referring to is the new mount I put together. I'm going to do a video on it, but for now I posted a picture of it in the Community tab of the channel. I can loosen the mount and slide the entire collective back and forth as needed. th-cam.com/channels/rmdyKs7UAn7eVj3BvWNOCA.htmlcommunity?lb=Ugkx-jzvX_tTwwANSy7jPZT1ZpsgWmdT6wz_
Really nice collective. I swapped my Thrustmaster base for a Virpil base and it is smoother. I don’t know if I’ll ever have room to do a collective on my current setup. My next move is VR since the new machine. But like you, I do love helicopters. I do fly my TM in reverse, collective is forward, just I don’t have train my brain. I fly the Harrier too sometimes.
Gotta love Virpil. They have some great product. I have one of those collectives also , but have yet to hook it up. I do have the F14 grip as well as their rudder pedals.
I seem to have the same interests in DCS as you. WW2 warbirds (especially P-47 which is my absolutely favorite) and helicopter. I have started to sit in the CPG seat of the AH-64 with my Pimax Crystal and have George AI fly me around with some basic commands from me so I can concentrate on all the screens and sensors. And, oh man, the view and clarity are absolutely amazing. A couple of weeks ago I pre-ordered the Apache collective and should receive it sometime in Jan / Feb 2024. What I like in both warbirds and the AH-64 is that, besides enjoying the flying itself, I also find that I enjoy the maps much more because in both I fly low enough to see what's going on on the ground more so than in an F-18 or F-15. Cool stuff....thanks for posting.
Oh yeah, both warbirds and helos are quite challenging which is part of the fun and appeal! That's awesome on the VR too, what graphics card are you running?
@@DieselThunderAviation 4090 with a 7800X3D and 64 GB 6000 DDR ram. Same NLR rig as you too...will be interested to see what your final mounting solution will be for the collective. Currently I am also thinking about moving the throttle out a bit to make room for the collective on the inside, between the seat and the throttle which in my case is also the Thrustmaster.
I came up with a better mount using some extruded aluminum. I posted a picture of it in the community tab of the channel. I will show that in the next helicopter video that I do.
Hey there, I've got the Thrustmaster Warthog I use on a "goose-neck" extension for flying helis in DCS, MSFS and X-Plane and I have just ordered the VIRPIL TCS Rotor Base Plus with the UH-60 grip, both of which I now see as on "Back-Order" - goddammit. That gives me time to work out how and to what I'm going to mount the base as the VPC Chair Mount won't work with my office chair. I am thinking of drilling holes in the covered wooden base of my office chair to enable me to mount the VPC Base's bracket directly to the underside of it with the bracket as shown in "Option #1" of the online Rotor Plus TCS Base User Manual, probably with a couple of metal sheets on either side of the chair's wooden base for re-enforcement - if that works I don't care if it looks ugly!!! But I don't know the size and spacing of the various pre-drilled holes on the bracket. The bracket itself it is 152mm x 83mm as depicted in one of the images on the Rotor Plus TCS Base product page so I want to make a template and have the holes drilled for when it all arrives from VIRPIL UK. Are you aware of any such drawings/schematics? Also, what pedals are you using? TIA, Guy
I am also looking forward to buying a Virpil collective. Can you bind the twist throttle to an axis in msfs 2020 so that it actually works. With most helicopters having a governor , the twist throttle would be unnecessary but so cool to have. Can it be bound to the throttle in DCS?
I don't have any time in MSFS, though I would think you can. Both the twist grip and collective pull are an axis on this controller. And yes, it sure can be bound to the throttle within DCS. I would like to see an old school helicopter in DCS one day that would give that twist grip more of a purpose. :)
@@georgelza I have both Warthog/Viper and Hornet grips for the Warthog. Primarily use the Viper grip for helicopters, but use the Hornet Grip with the Apache.
Thanks for your video. I have been thinking of purchasing a collective and now I know that's what I'm going to do. Your video really helped me make up my mind. Thank you and good flying.
Awesome! That’s a rice nice piece of flight sim hardware! Also worth looking into is the counter-balance kit that they offer for the collective. Makes it operate even smoother and is very reasonably priced. I wonder if they include them these days?
I can't wait to order mine!! As well as the counter balance and Ah-64D Grip!!
I ordered the counter balance for mine as well. On the fence on if I want to get the Apache grip. I modified the mount from what is shown in this video. Originally the Hawk 60 grip barely clears the throttle base, but now I can slide the entire collective back on a rail so it's now possible to use the Apache grip.
@@DieselThunderAviation Nice. I wonder if I will have to modify the rail too.
The rail I'm referring to is the new mount I put together. I'm going to do a video on it, but for now I posted a picture of it in the Community tab of the channel. I can loosen the mount and slide the entire collective back and forth as needed.
th-cam.com/channels/rmdyKs7UAn7eVj3BvWNOCA.htmlcommunity?lb=Ugkx-jzvX_tTwwANSy7jPZT1ZpsgWmdT6wz_
Really nice collective. I swapped my Thrustmaster base for a Virpil base and it is smoother. I don’t know if I’ll ever have room to do a collective on my current setup. My next move is VR since the new machine. But like you, I do love helicopters. I do fly my TM in reverse, collective is forward, just I don’t have train my brain. I fly the Harrier too sometimes.
Brilliant! It's great stuff is that Virpil gear!
Oh yeah, pretty good sim gear for sure!
Nice! Congrats on the new stuff!
Thank you Luck!
Gotta love Virpil. They have some great product. I have one of those collectives also , but have yet to hook it up. I do have the F14 grip as well as their rudder pedals.
Nice! Haven't tried their pedals, how do you like them?
@@DieselThunderAviation great. heavy duty. solid. I have the VPC ACE Flight Pedals.
AND.... I pre-ordered the Apache-64 Collective Grip
I seem to have the same interests in DCS as you. WW2 warbirds (especially P-47 which is my absolutely favorite) and helicopter. I have started to sit in the CPG seat of the AH-64 with my Pimax Crystal and have George AI fly me around with some basic commands from me so I can concentrate on all the screens and sensors. And, oh man, the view and clarity are absolutely amazing. A couple of weeks ago I pre-ordered the Apache collective and should receive it sometime in Jan / Feb 2024. What I like in both warbirds and the AH-64 is that, besides enjoying the flying itself, I also find that I enjoy the maps much more because in both I fly low enough to see what's going on on the ground more so than in an F-18 or F-15. Cool stuff....thanks for posting.
Oh yeah, both warbirds and helos are quite challenging which is part of the fun and appeal! That's awesome on the VR too, what graphics card are you running?
@@DieselThunderAviation 4090 with a 7800X3D and 64 GB 6000 DDR ram. Same NLR rig as you too...will be interested to see what your final mounting solution will be for the collective. Currently I am also thinking about moving the throttle out a bit to make room for the collective on the inside, between the seat and the throttle which in my case is also the Thrustmaster.
I came up with a better mount using some extruded aluminum. I posted a picture of it in the community tab of the channel. I will show that in the next helicopter video that I do.
Hey there,
I've got the Thrustmaster Warthog I use on a "goose-neck" extension for flying helis in DCS, MSFS and X-Plane and I have just ordered the VIRPIL TCS Rotor Base Plus with the UH-60 grip, both of which I now see as on "Back-Order" - goddammit. That gives me time to work out how and to what I'm going to mount the base as the VPC Chair Mount won't work with my office chair.
I am thinking of drilling holes in the covered wooden base of my office chair to enable me to mount the VPC Base's bracket directly to the underside of it with the bracket as shown in "Option #1" of the online Rotor Plus TCS Base User Manual, probably with a couple of metal sheets on either side of the chair's wooden base for re-enforcement - if that works I don't care if it looks ugly!!!
But I don't know the size and spacing of the various pre-drilled holes on the bracket. The bracket itself it is 152mm x 83mm as depicted in one of the images on the Rotor Plus TCS Base product page so I want to make a template and have the holes drilled for when it all arrives from VIRPIL UK. Are you aware of any such drawings/schematics?
Also, what pedals are you using?
TIA,
Guy
I am also looking forward to buying a Virpil collective. Can you bind the twist throttle to an axis in msfs 2020 so that it actually works. With most helicopters having a governor , the twist throttle would be unnecessary but so cool to have.
Can it be bound to the throttle in DCS?
I don't have any time in MSFS, though I would think you can. Both the twist grip and collective pull are an axis on this controller. And yes, it sure can be bound to the throttle within DCS. I would like to see an old school helicopter in DCS one day that would give that twist grip more of a purpose. :)
what do you have setup as your cyclic?
Using my Warthog with an 8” (20 cm) extension. The extension is a nice to have addition for helos, warbirds too!
which grip you use... @@DieselThunderAviation
so virpil collective and warthog base+grip...
@@georgelza I have both Warthog/Viper and Hornet grips for the Warthog. Primarily use the Viper grip for helicopters, but use the Hornet Grip with the Apache.
Gosh 😱 You are spoiling yourself 🤣
Thanks! Just a little bit I suppose :)