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Looking for "no center indent", not just "soft center"

Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2020 12:50
by StickWhirler
Hi

I'm currently looking for a new HOTAS and need to decide between VKB and Virpil. So far the slightly larger deflection of the VBK looks attractice to me as I also want to fly aerobatics. However I need a stick with zero indent at the center axis and I am not sure whether the "soft" cams in the VPK do this.
I never understood why flight sim joystick makers are so paranoid about including the unrealistic center axis "lock" which does not exist in real planes (ok slight correction: I kow one real plane where there is an intentional slight center indent in the elevator axis and it feels just silly). I find such indents annoying, no matter how soft it is, because it prevents precise corrections about the center point. Yes I know some might say it's so little you almost don't notice it, but it is completely unnecessary and takes the immersion away. So far I used a Cougar with the u2nxt mod which removed the original indents by two pairs of springs which were always under tension and no cams, so there was no center "lock" whatsoever and the joystick always centered precisely even without detent. The argument that the detent is needed for precise center is unrealistic; real planes don't have it and can still be flown precisely. In real life, control friction and boundary layer effects add to the center characteristics, so there is no such thing as an "always 100% precise recentering" anyway.
So does the VKB has a "zero indent" cam and if not, will one be released?

thanks,
Marc

Re: Looking for "no center indent", not just "soft center"

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 0:32
by wasd1983
I have a Gunfighter with stock cams and there is no center detent at all

Re: Looking for "no center indent", not just "soft center"

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 16:56
by StickWhirler
Which cams do you use? After some research, it seems that the "old" #10 cams did not have a center detent. But now there only seem to be the avia and space cams, both "soft" and "hard", and people report a detent even with the soft ones. On the photos, the slight corner in the new cams producing the center detent can clearly be seen.
So my question to VKB is: is it possible to get the Gunfighter III with #10 cams (or whatever you may call them, as long as they don't have a center detent)?

Re: Looking for "no center indent", not just "soft center"

Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2020 17:36
by Tuesday John
#10 cams are not available new, afaik.

New no-center cam is in the works but no scheduled date for the release yet.

Re: Looking for "no center indent", not just "soft center"

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 2:02
by wasd1983
Yeah, I have a mk2 with stock cams, I'm not sure on the number tho. If some things has changed with mk3, as it seems, sorry for the wrong information.