I bought this from Amazon, took the super-saver shipping and received it two days later, on a Thursday evening.The packaging was more than adequate and the controller arrived without a scratch on it.I've now had an entire weekend to play with it so these are my thoughts.
I run Windows XP and, like other reviewers, I ignored the CD and downloaded the latest drivers from the Logitech website.The programming software works ok, but is nothing special.My previous stick was the Thrustmaster Cougar and the flexibility of the Foxy software is in a different world to the Logitech one.That being said, however, I didn't personally use the vast majority of those features and instead downloaded other peoples' profiles from the web.Hopefully, the community will also supply a large number of profiles for the G940.
There is a minor nuisance with the software in that you can't assign stick functions, program a profile or, in fact, start the software at all without the controller plugged in.This is inconvenient,but not a showstopper.
The stick itself feels good in the hand and has a slightly rubbery feel to it.It has a larger footprint on the desk than any other stick I've owned which, presumably, is to accommodate the force feedback motors.The micro-stick on the joystick that looks like a POV-hat isn't, and the castle switch is instead used as the POV.Not sure that I particularly like that choice but the micro-stick can be programmed to act as a normal hat if needed.I've found I need to keep the dead-zone on the microstick axes relatively high to prevent unwanted inputs in flight as the calibration seems to drift slightly.
The throttle unit also feels decent in the hand but isn't exactly going to win any beauty contests.The twin throttles separate easily and also recombine easily.The action is smooth and the friction adjustable.The lit buttons on the throttle base also function nicely as buttons and, I'm told, will function as working LED indicators in the future.One of my gripes with the throttle is about the R1 and R2 rotaries.It would have been nice to have had either a detent or at least some physical means of telling when they were centered without having to look at the painted line on them.But if you're picky about that you can always file a small groove into the center-point yourself.
The pedals are lovely.Nice and solid, and wide enough for me.I'm 6"3 and find them pretty comfortable.I've never actually used any other sim-pedals before but I fly little single engine planes in real life so have a pretty good idea how rudder pedals should feel.
I've been playing IL2 and DCS Black Shark and have been loving the force feedback.At the default settings the feedback is nice and strong, and the force can be ramped up or down in the Logitech software to suit your tastes.Using the trim function in Black Shark and having the stick actually stay in the trim position is fantastic and actually 'feeling' your warbird about to enter a stall in IL2 really helps with both my flying and my sense of immersion in the sim.
The 3-axis trims on the stick are great in IL2 and incredibly useful.Once again, no 'feelable' center position but you can't have everything.
One thing I did after a few minutes of using the stick was to put a little piece of tape over the "dead man's switch".This is a little sensor that detects whether the user's hands are on the stick or not and turns down the force feedback if necessary.It's a nice feature in theory but, especially in black shark with the stick in a trimmed position, I find the stick will jump around if I loosen my grip on the stick and no longer cover the sensor, so I took the decision to cover it up permanently.I just make sure to unplug the DC power to the stick if I leave it unattended.
Overall, very happy with the product with just a small wish-list for extra software functionality.
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Logitech Flight System G940 Force Feedback JoystickProduct Description: An authentic design inspired by military and commercial planes and helicopters provides a flying experience that's more realistic and more fun, with important controls that look, feel and work like the real thing. The force feedback joystick allows you to control your aircfraft with confidence as you feel its movement as well as its reaction to air turbulence and g-forces. The dual throttle allows you to precisely control multi-engine aircraft using the split lever. Rudder pedals with toe brakes give you true-to-life control, especially when rudder control is essential such as performing definsive maneuvers and crosswind landings, or piloting helicopters. Interactive, programmable throttle-base buttons integrate with simulation software and illuminate red, green, amber or off to indicate the status of critical aircraft systems, just like they would a real cockpit.
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Overall, the product is great! I am an ex cockpit builder (long ago) and have spent over $900 for the part to do what this does. That said, you get what you pay for and in most ways more than you paid for in my opinion. The function knobs on the left I like. They are more sturdy and some say touch to turn, but not me. I think it may be because the knobs on the right are so incredibly cheap that the other knobs feel so much harder to turn. The only reason I gave this 4 stars and not 5 is because of those knobs. I wanted this to speed up the freq setting part of my sim time, but I spend more time because of how sensitive they are and you'll over shoot the desired freq setting countless times even though you only moved it one "knub". Personally I'm going to spend the $.29 cents at radio shack and replace them with a generic potentiometer or similar. I had to speak the truth here, but I'm sure 99% of people will be more than satisfied with this unit.
