On Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:05:34 -0800, Piet Barber wrote:

What I would really like is a force feedback joystick that closely
represents the style of control column you see in real life gliders.
Something that doesn't sit on a table, but is positioned on a chair, and
be grabbed in the customary fashion that a normal flight control stick
is grasped. And something with a mini-throttle built in that I could
use as a trim-tab. I don't need all those 85 buttons and control hat
that all the modern joysticks have.

If you can find something like an old CH Pro gaming stick (two buttons on
the stick, throttle wheel and X and Y trim pots it shouldn't be too hard
to adapt it. Make a stick of the right length from alloy tube and mount
it on a box or whatever so it has the right relationship to your chair.
Fit a mechanical link from your stick to the the CH Pro stick so it will
follow your stick's movements. Take the handle off the CH Pro and put it
on the top of your stick and wit up its two buttons in case you find a
use for them. Lengths of bicycle brake cable can be used to connect home
made brake and trim levers to the throttle and trim pots on the CH base
or use that sort of linkage to make the throttle into an airbrake and
build a mechanical trim setup with springs on the stick (would be more
realistic since the CH trim pots don't physically affect the position of
its stick).

Of course, the CH Pro is an old-style stick that plugs into a game port
and it may be hard to find a game port adapter to fit a modern PC.
However, I bet you could do a similar butcher job on a cheap modern USB
stick and simply discard all the buttons etc you don't need.


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martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
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