Buy CH Products Fighterstick USBCH Products Fighterstick USB Product Description:
- USB programmable joystick
- 3 axis and 24 buttons (three push buttons, one mode switch button, three 4 way hat switches and one 8 way point of view hat)
- Total of 132 programmable functions with the new Control Manager software (included)
- Realistic F-16 handle
- Compatible with Windows 98, 2000, Me, XP, Vista & Windows 7 or Mac OS 8.6 and above
Product Description
CH FlightStick - Joystick - 3 button(s) - black
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
114 of 114 people found the following review helpful.
looks aren't everything
By Ninoslav Tomlinovic
Being a long time flight simmer and after using many different joysticks, throttles and pedals, I finally tried this one.
With my last stick being the TM Cougar, I learned to appreciate softer springs, precision and overall reliability. Most of these were missing with my one year old Cougar which now seems was all about looks.
Being made by dedicated flight simming accessories company, CH Fighterstick seems to be one of less known secrets of hardcore sim crowd.
At first, I was suspicious because of its plastic feel. The stick is big enough even for large hands, while people with smaller hands may find it somewhat uncofortable.
Springs are very light. This is a plus for me, as it allows higher precision, especially near the center. You don't get to wrestle the springs during your flying. It has great throw, so there is a lot of room for precision input throughout the range of motion.
Trim wheels for both axes help even in simulations without trim controls. Smart stuff.
There is a throttle wheel at the base of the stick. If you have a throttle, this wheel can be mapped to another function, but you won't be able to reach it without letting your hand off the trottle or stick.
Software is excellent and it actually rivals the software being shipped with the Cougar. As with the stick itself, at first it looks toyish. After a while you learn its huge capabilities.
Verdict: The best high end joystick out there - precision, programming abilities, reliability and simplicity being its trump cards.
48 of 49 people found the following review helpful.The best PC joystick on the market !
By CeeTee
I have owned the CH Products Fighterstick for a little over a month now and I am now ready to compose a full review. I have been a MS Sidewinder force feedback2 user for years. I was very happy with that stick but when I started playing Lock On I decided that it was time to step up to the plate and purchase a real HOTAS system. At first glance the fighterstick appears to be built to last. It is constructed of very heavy gauge plastic and all of the devices seams are sealed properly. It is not flimsy or fragile in appearance or feel.The stick only comes with an instruction sheet. There is no owners Manual or software disk included. The new owner must download the drivers and CH Control Manager software from the CH website. Setup is a very simple operation which involves plugging your stick into it's own USB port and running the drivers software. Setup was completed without a hitch and I did not miss the absent owners Manuel. I then proceeded to use the CH Manager software to configure the stick for the first time. It was at this time that I encountered my first and only problem while using the software. While attempting to configure the Y axis I noticed that the stick's signal would jump from one end of the scale to the other with very little movement from the stick itself. I could not figure out what the problem was on my own so I called CH customer service and they told me to be sure and center the two trim wheels before configuration. Sure enough after I corrected the position of the two wheels, the configuration process was completed without a problem.Next, I ran Lock On in order to put the stick through it's first flight trials. The Fighterstick fits my medium sized hand very well. My only complaint is the fact that button #2 is located very high on the stick and is hard for me to reach without repositioning my hand. I believe this is due to the fact that this stick is based on the design of the F-16 joystick configuration. The problem with this choice of design styles is that the real F-16 stick is mounted between the legs and at about waist height inside the cockpit, where as the CH Fighterstick will be mounted on some ones desktop. This creates an ergonomic problem that the F-16 design was not meant to handle. Beside my issue with button #2, I have experienced no other problems with manipulation of the stick ingame.Stick response and accuracy are very good. I can pull all kinds of high "G" maneuvers, fire all kinds of weapons and deploy my counter measures with a level of speed and accuracy that I have never experienced before. All the buttons work as programmed and the x/y axis is very smooth. Some say that the springs in the stick base are very lite. I don't feel that there is anything unusual or loose concerning the feel of this stick. I am very comfortable with the level of tension in the stick. Keep in mind that I have been working with the Sidewinder up to this point and that this may be the reason why I don't have a problem with the level of tension in the stick.CH Control Manager is a wonderful program that gives you the ability to adjust all of the sticks important settings. It also allows you to create your own personal button program maps which can be loaded or saved for future use. CH Control Manager does not come with a tutorial so you will need to consult with an experienced user in order to fill in the blanks left after you have read the online user guide, as I did. After asking a few questions on an internet user forum I was ready to begin programing the stick for the first time. Once you know how to use it, CH Control Manager is a joy to work with. However it is not as intuitive as I would have liked it to have been.The CH products Fighterstick is considered the top of the line PC flight controller. Unlike Thrustmaster's best stick it doesn't have any outstanding quality control issues. The Fighterstick has an excellent maintenance record and I am confident that it will last me for many years of flight siming fun.Update: I stand corrected on the position of the stick in the real F-16, however I stand by my criticism of the feel of the stick when used in the desktop position. Thanks to the PC cockpit I now use, I no longer experience this problem.
38 of 45 people found the following review helpful.
CH Not what it used to be
By Blackwolf
I am a long time flight simmer, and back in the early days I owned several of CH's joysticks, along with their throttle and rudder pedals. At that time, they were simply the best one could get.Due to various factors, I did not have the money to buy CH when WinXP came out and forced everyone to switch to USB, but that recently changed, and I was very glad at the time to have the opportunity to once again use what I thought would be the best gear.However, I have found that they are not what they used to be. The stick I received would not return to center properly, and slowly grew worse over time. At first it was simply a matter of setting a small deadband, but it grew worse enough that even deadband wouldn't help. Along with this, it would not hold steady, and needed constant correction.I filled out the customer service request form on their web page, and still have not received an answer, after over a week. I also have called and been put on hold each time for over half an hour(at my expense)and still have not gotten to speak with anyone. So I can testify that their customer service, which at one time was top notch, has declined sharply as well.I was finally able to repair the stick myself, after following instructions from an outside forum, which involved having to disassemble the unit and rebuild it due to a large amount of backlash from a very improper fit of the pots. This is simply unacceptable in a stick of this price.I am sorry to have to write a review such as this, as CH used to be the best you could get, both in terms of quality as well as service. In addition, the design has not changed in over a decade, and there are much more comfortable sticks, as well as much more accurate ones, for less money. I would love to see CH come back to where they were, and if they did, I would be first in line to buy their products. But I cannot recommend this stick to anyone in the current state of things, unless they have the technical skill to modify and repair it to make it work like it should.I gave it three stars only because of it's potential once rebuilt and repaired.
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