Airgroup 51

General Forums (Public) => Peripheral & Controller Info => Technical Dept. ALL (Public) => Thrustmaster Info => Topic started by: AG-51_Razor on February 03, 2016, 09:59:20 PM

Title: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 03, 2016, 09:59:20 PM
Have any of you Warthawg owners seen or tried this yet?? http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2665740&postcount=26

All I can say man is WOW!!!. It's like I can fly that damned Mi-8 around like I was in my S-64! I am not shitting you! It's that dramatic a difference. The pisser is, if you do this, you'll have to re-learn how to tank in an F-18   :sad5:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 03, 2016, 10:36:59 PM
Man I can't believe how beefy of a spring that is.. Love how heavy duty that is... Same premise with the Rhino except our springs are a little easier to change out.. I fly choppers with the weakest spring as well.. Sometimes with no spring, but it is nice to have it at least recenter sometimes.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 03, 2016, 10:41:48 PM
I'm having a hell of a time getting back to where I can tank in the Hornet. I's like I'm starting all over again from scratch.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Cobraj on February 03, 2016, 11:51:12 PM
It doesn't move to center removing that spring does it?
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 04, 2016, 01:12:09 AM
It does but not very crisply. If you push it forward the CG of it will keep it forward but in any other direction it will return to center.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 04, 2016, 11:38:05 AM
He said at the end of that video that you could add little washers to the small springs to add a little more tension.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Glider on February 04, 2016, 11:40:33 AM
You can also order stiffer springs to replace the small ones. Tune it to exactly how you like.

http://springs.mrspring.com/viewitems/compression-springs/compression-springs-3?&forward=1
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 04, 2016, 02:20:13 PM
He said at the end of that video that you could add little washers to the small springs to add a little more tension.

Yeah, I was going to give that a try. If that doesn't work out, I may try to find some different springs from that site Glider posted. I am also going to look into another option, using an extension between the grip and base of the joystick. Having a longer stick with change the amount of throw for the stick and hopefully make it much more realistic. Here are a couple of sites that offer them:

https://sites.google.com/site/warthogextension/

http://warthog-extensions-by-sahaj.com/my-products/
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 04, 2016, 03:31:34 PM
Too Cool!!! With that main spring in was the control pretty tight. Seemed like it would be with that car spring in there!!!
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 04, 2016, 03:40:27 PM
Yes, it was fairly tight but I guess I just got used to it. Once I removed it and put those 4 little springs up on top, it now feels like I have a Jet Ranger cyclic in my hand. Skeetr will know exactly what I mean by that. So now, it feels completely natural hovering around in the Mi-8 but I am over controlling the crap out of the airplanes! I am sure that it is purely a matter of retraining myself regardless of which way I go. The first thing I will do is put a couple of washers under the plate to see if that changes the tension any. In the mean time, I have pulled the plug on a 10cm extension, which will be at my door in a week or two. I have a feeling that this will be the hot ticket! I'll be sure to keep y'all up to date. Of course, y'all should be able to tell just by flying along side of me while EDIT: TRYING to hit the tanker! LOL!
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 04, 2016, 05:43:46 PM
On your planes maybe try upping the curve??? With the extension you may have to go back to a heavier spring, no???
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 05, 2016, 10:15:42 AM
I don't think I'll need to put the heavy spring back in with this new extension. It's just right for helicopters now, and with the extension, the comtrol inputs will be much finer so the overcontrolling I am experiencing at the moment should be minimized quite a bit. I'll just have to wait and see.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 05, 2016, 10:21:04 AM
You keep going like this you will be in full pit before you know it!!! :glasses3:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 06, 2016, 05:59:35 PM
I thought I'd give y'all a little update on my Warthog spring mod. Well, after realizing that I was totally incompetent with it in airplanes after removing the spring, I began investigating the use of washers to tighten it up a little bit. I ended up using some fairly thin nuts which got the tension just right and I was able to plug into both types of tankers (Viking and IL-78) but also became painfully aware that the amount of throw - or movement - on the stick had been reduced a fair bit. So......I am back to normal now with the big spring in place and everything works now as it did before. I will go throught this whole cycle again when the 10cm stick extension arrives next week. I'll let you know how that works out for me.

In the mean time, I can't really recommend this spring mod to any of our Warthog users. That is, unless you plane to fly helicopters exclusively. I am hopeful that, by getting some additional leverage on the stick with this extension, the big spring will become less obtrusive in the helos and actually make the airplanes feel just right. Stay tuned.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Glider on February 17, 2016, 02:19:01 PM
Razor- did you get your extension yet and if so what do you think of it? I am thinking of doing the same with the longest one they have and makeing my stick a center stick.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 17, 2016, 03:47:55 PM
No, it hasn't shown up yet. I would not be surprised to see it sitting on my door step when I get home this evening. I will definitely give y'all a full report on it complete with pictures.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 26, 2016, 11:10:38 AM
Got back yesterday afternoon and the stick extension was laying there on my chair! It took about 2 minutes to install and I am amazed at the improvement! I'll post pictures later. The extra little leverage makes it feel like the spring is 10X softer. I tried it out for a few minutes early this morning in both the Mirage and the Mil-8. What a difference! I recommend it!!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Glider on February 26, 2016, 11:41:40 AM
Which length did you get? are you still using on your desk and how is that working ergonomically?
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 26, 2016, 12:01:33 PM
From a previous post: "In the mean time, I can't really recommend this spring mod to any of our Warthog users. That is, unless you plane to fly helicopters exclusively. I am hopeful that, by getting some additional leverage on the stick with this extension, the big spring will become less obtrusive in the helos and actually make the airplanes feel just right. Stay tuned.  :thumbsup:"

I got the 10cm extension, and with the stock spring installed and the added leverage from the extension, I think I have it just about right. I'll post some pictures of how I have my stick mounted. I think you'll appreciate it and find it very easy to replicate.  :thumbsup:  I bought a 3' section of 4" PVC from Lowes with 2 caps for the top and bottom. I removed the base plate from the stick and bolted it to one of the caps and bolted the other cap onto a piece of plywood that is about 1.5 foot square. I then cut the PVC tube down to about 2'. Of course, any dimensions you use will depend entirely upon your particular chair, pedal placement and personal taste.

So now, all I need to do is cut my tube down an additional 10cm and I'll be in biddness!!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 26, 2016, 08:53:14 PM
Here are some pictures of my stick
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 26, 2016, 09:02:05 PM
Nice Pit !!! :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Animal on February 27, 2016, 11:54:14 AM
Very cool.  Are there any clearance issues with the front of your chair when operating?
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 27, 2016, 12:07:02 PM
No Animal, the seat cusion is level with the base of the stick. Actually, I wish I could get rid of the right hand arm rest so that my forearm could rest on my right leg while flying. You can see 2 notches cut out of the base plate of the stick. They are for 2 of the wheels to fit into so that I can get closer to the stick.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: No.42_Rooster on February 27, 2016, 02:10:36 PM
Looks great Razor, there are some good ideas going on right there. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on February 27, 2016, 03:59:04 PM
Thanks Rooster.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Bulldog on February 27, 2016, 05:12:04 PM
Personally I like the stop clock the best... :glasses3: ... your always thinking.. I miss that feature with the 52 pro...
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Thud on February 27, 2016, 06:22:20 PM
Very nice.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Fireball on February 27, 2016, 06:38:22 PM
I don't see why you guys always think you have to be changing stuff around. You buy a $400 joystick and then you start messing with it....

Do they accept PayPal?  :icon_biggrin:

Actually, my joystick (without the extension...yet) is mounted very similar to Razor's, on about a two foot high piece of PVC pipe. I've got a little bit different pieces on the ends, but the idea is the same. It works really well. And I filled the pipe up with a bag of little river rocks I bought at Home Depot. That makes it really solid.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Glider on June 01, 2016, 03:45:22 PM
Razor,

I am getting ready to pull the trigger on one of these. I am thinking about the 20cm version though. You have any thoughts on doing that?
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on June 01, 2016, 04:23:30 PM
Normally, I'd say it totally depends on the vertical placement of the stick, ie. How high it is off the floor. I placed mine so that I can rest my right wrist on my leg when flying. However, in your case, I'd say that it won't make a damn bit of difference since YOU'VE GOT TO ACTUALLY FLY IN ORDER FOR IT TO AFFECT YOUR CONTROL INPUTS!!!!!  :Rofl
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Glider on June 01, 2016, 07:45:41 PM
Ah my young Padawan you are assuming that just because I am not online at the appropriate times that I am not flying  :tongue3:

It is more of a time that I am available at the moment. I just finished CERT Training and the first 1/2 of my EMR. That means that I should be available on Thursdays starting this week. I am also working on getting back into soaring and visited the Willamette Valley Soaring Club this weekend and will be at Evergreen Soaring Club this Saturday. I have been flying on my own using the practice missions when I can... usually Wednesdays but I am also spending more time in the Condor soaring sim getting readied up. I need to make some reconfiguration with my cockpit as well that I have been working out.

Plus it is the time of the year when it is sunny when I get home and the weather is such that you can wear short sleeves without a raincoat. Have sailing, kayaking, soaring, flyfishing, and all of the other outdoor things to do while the getting is good. However at least Thursdays are looking good now.  :angel7:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Cobraj on June 01, 2016, 07:54:05 PM
:violent1: :laughing4: :wave:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Thud on June 03, 2016, 09:38:07 AM
So, you remove it from that pedestal when you fly other aircraft?  I was thinking of building a pedistal for my Rhino so that I can use that configuration.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Glider on June 03, 2016, 10:15:32 AM
I ordered the 20cm black extension. Should be here next week. Make it as close as possible to a real stick length. More throw will certainly help with finesse and I am really looking forward to trying it out in the Huey.
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Razor on June 03, 2016, 12:30:23 PM
You won't regret it! Just make sure that you can comfortably rest your wrist on your leg while in flying position.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Fireball on November 19, 2017, 09:26:50 AM
Here's Razor's posts from last year about the Warthog spring mod we were talking about last night. This one involves removing the main spring from the Warthog, and repositioning the 4 smaller springs. The Youtube video seems to have disappeared from the link in the original post, but it's this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBMBR8M0z2E

I've really like that setup for helicopter flying, and if I was going to fly helicopters exclusively I'd probably leave it like that. But I think for a mixture of helicopter and fixed-wing flying, the extension is probably the way to go. I ordered a 10 cm extension from here:

https://warthog-extensions-by-sahaj.com

There's also a picture somewhere in this thread of Razor's PVC pipe used for the Warthog base. Mine is very similar, I used slightly different top and bottom pieces, but the same idea. I also filled the whole PVC pipe with small river rocks to make it super stable, probably not necessary.

Title: Re: Spring Mod For TM Warthawg
Post by: AG-51_Kaydo on November 19, 2017, 01:26:17 PM
Thanks Fireball