Classic British Flight Sim

My joystick has just bit the dust (not bad for 7 years old I suppose...!) - anyone care to recommend a replacement?

I see M$ have discontinued the sidewinder line (which shows how often I have looked!!)

Until I get a new one, it's FS9 with the keyboard!

I still use my trusty sidewinder. I feel all of the other good ones look like something from the top gun arcade game, and are nowhere near as substansial in terms of weight and feel. I'm pretty sure Rick is still using his sidewider too. In my opinion, there is nothing as good as it out there unless you want more buttons than you can shake a stick at. I also find it doesn't feel out of place when flying aircraft that should have a yoke.

Yeah, that's why I haven't looked I suppose - my Sidewinder has served me well. I might have a poke around at the weekend - I think it's a break in the wire as the cable enters the body.
I tend to agree that the other choices look weedy to say the least.

There are a few secondhand sidewinders coming up on eBay, Jim. Just type 'sidewinder' in the search box. Might as well stick with what you know if you're happy with it.

Ian

I'd do that Jim.

I recently bought a Saitek ST290 Pro to replace one of my Sidewinders.. used it a couple of times and have gone back to the old Sidewinder. The Saitek has one less button for a start and I'm not reaching all the way over to the keyboard to operate my landing gear

I'm sure the other 'all singing.. all dancing' Saitek units are great but I didn't want the separate throttle as I already have a full CH outfit including a throttle quad so buying one of the others would have been a waste of money (not that I use the CH Pro stuff these days anyway)

If you find a supply of NEW Sidewinders.. let us know as I may well be interested

ATB

DaveB :tab:

I have to say my X-52 is brill!!! I know more buttons you can shake a stick at but hey, id rather have too many than not enough, also i use it for my BF2'n

If you do decide to look around for something different along the same lines as a sidewinder, you might want to look at the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. About £22 refurbished incl delivery on eBay. They're about £30-40 new.

http://tinyurl.com/58w23a

I replaced my sidewinder a couple of years back with one of these. It's simple, strong and reliable and has 12 programmable buttons, throttle, twist handle and hatswitch. It has a solid feel to it with a strong smooth centralising spring pressure and is also very stable due to a weighted base.

Ian

I have used a CH F-16 Combat Stick for some years and I'm very fond of it...Not keen on yokes

Cheers Guys

I'm going to set about it with the screwdriver tomorrow and see if I can have a fiddle, if its a no-go I think I'll have a look on Fleabay...

:flying:

The Sidewinder appears to still be available at the US Amazon through 3rd party re-sellers. Also some used ones are listed as available. The link to the page is:

http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-E13-000 ... B00006BA0Q

I checked Amazon.co.uk and did not find any Sidewinders listed. I don't know how much the US res-sellers would charge for UK shipping, but with the Dollar doing it's best to impersonate the Peso these days it might be worth checking into.

:flying:
Nigel, the other one.