Speedlink Phantom Hawk Gaming Flight Stick for PC SL-6638-BK, Throttle Controller, 3 Control Dimensions, 8-Way Coolie Hat, Force Vibration, 12 Assignable Fire Buttons, Black

WARNING - REPEATING MY ACTIONS WILL VOID WARRANTYI love this joystick. For the price I expected something much less solid - it is big and robust, feels like a decent joystick, not a toy.The only problem was the Rotation Z axis (which is very important for the space flight kind of games I play), as it had an offset (relaxed joystick is not in the centre). Windows can calibrate X and Y, but does not calibrate RZ, which means the offset is always there in the games making my ships keep spinning over and over giving me motion sickness after less than one minute.I opened the case trying to figure out a way to correct this, which I did by soldering a trimpot and adjusting it until I cancelled the error. But while doing this I found out the internal connections in this product are AMAZING for makers and people interested in do-it-yourself projects. The mechanical side (the joystick itself and its axes) and the circuit board can be disconnected and everything is identified property in the PCB, so you can:1. mod the joystick, e.g. replacing the base buttons for a separate button box, or replacing the very small Z axis in the base for a sideways large throttle lever, or even the RZ for rudder pedals2. remove the PCB entirely and write your own firmware in an arduino or bluepill board, so you have the great mechanical build of this joystick with your own logic controlling whatever you want3. remove the joystick (a shame, as I really like the build) and use the board with your own potentiometers and buttons to build a USB joystick of your own shape (I don't see a value in doing this, but technically you can)All the axes (X, Y, Z and RZ) are 10k potentiometers (X, Y and Z are powered by their own connectors, RZ is powered by the VCC and GND from the 2 large connectors). I didn't really do any work on the buttons but in my tests they seem to connect to VCC when pressed (not GND which would be the standard in electronics).More than recommending this for games, I fully recommend for makers and people alike. And I also strongly recommend the manufacturer starts marketing products for this niche, as there are a number of people around like me building simulation cockpits ("simpits"), they get their hands dirty on electronics and are very enthusiastic on spending money on this kind of thing.

The product was quite a surprise. Has plenty of buttons and you can reprogram them too. This being my first true flight stick I didnt realise it has a rudder control. I have only ever owned an 8 bit style joystick. When calibrating the rudder axis beware of that, it is easy to miss. I also didn't realise it vibrated as well. Overall a good first flight stick. Calibration can be slightly off but uninstalling the software fixed that. Not sure if its a bug or not.

I bought it to use with StarWars Episode 1 Pod Racer game for PC. I was previously using the keyboard, which was not so good. It is a great improvement, has a throttle slider, and a 3 axis movement. It can be set up in the PC driver. It took me a while to workout what all the buttons were for, but with 2 triggers, a push button, and 2 4-way rocker switches on the stick, and 6 additional push buttons on the base, I have something for every function. For the particular game I would like to, but cannot, disable the twist action for the rudder, because this tilts the pod and makes it less able to steer a course, and it is all too easy to inadvertently twist while going hard left or right, with unpredictable results. All functions can be remapped, but not disabled. I imagine it would be perfect for the new Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The best part about this stick is the layout, it's comfortable, and the buttons are well placed. However, it goes rapidly downhill from there.The build quality is poor, it's plastic of course, but the rubber surround on the stick is useless and does not hold the stick in the center.The throttle control is reversed per the labelling, 100% is zero etc.As the stick does not center by itself reliably, calibration is nigh on impossible. This leads to the real kicker, the drivers.You can install the drivers from the speedlink site, and it comes with a control panel that replaces your default system one. However, you cannot calibrate the stick with its drivers installed - this is even mentioned in the FAQ. You must uninstall the drivers, run the system calibration and not reinstall the drivers at all because if you do your calibration settings are reset. This makes the 'drivers' totally useless. Without calibration this stick is unusable for anything precise. Because it doesn't center reliably you must use a very large deadzone to compensate which means you have a very reduced amount of travel.Buy anything else in this price bracket as it will be better than this.

So to clear up some misinformation in other reviews:It works on fs2020. It does not however have a default set of key bindings. So pitch, roll, yaw, throttle and the rest all need manually configuring in game. A bit tedious but not earth shattering.The crashes for USB devices were not localised to this stick and have now largely been patched out.Throttle being the opposite - confusingly when calibrating the throttle axis either in windows or msfs it does look like 0 on the joystick is 100 in game, however when you're actually in the cockpit it works as it should, 0 is 0, 100 is 100.Staying on the subject of the throttle however mine is already broken after a few months. The throttle doesn't pickup motion between 100% and 70%.Rest of the stick is okay, needs dead zones configuring as it doesn't return to centre (not really a big deal)Cheap and cheerful would describe this stick.