Logitech Flight System G940 Force Feedback Joystick

Logitech G940 Review 3-11-11Just before I ordered Logitech's G940, I ordered and tried the Saitek X52, (not to be confused with the X52 Pro). I fly mostly in FSX, (lately helicopters and stick controlled planes), and have just started flying some of the other 'action' games like Wings over Europe.This is not a review about the X52 so I will not go into detail about it other than to say that for my purposes, (flying stick control planes and Heli's), the X52 fell short by quite a bit.When I read all the reviews about the G940 I have to say that I was afraid to spend the money on it. But then it dawned on me that almost every review I read that had something terrible to say about the G940 was dated one or more years ago!So I bought it and the first thing I noticed was that the stick was limp and fell over to the side. I have never had a Force Feedback stick so I wasn't sure if it was broken or not.I called the Logitech Customer Service and quickly got a real person on the line, (that surprised me!). I wanted to know if the stick was suppose to be that way until the game was loaded and I didn't want to take it all out of the box and hook it all up just to have to put it all back in the box again.Well the CS rep was not familiar with the G940 or any other Flight Sim joystick and after I repeated my simple question 4 or 5 times he told me "yes it will straighten out when you plug it in". And then a minute later he changed his mind and said that it is broken and to box it back up and ship it back.So I discarded his advice, (all of it), hooked it all up and as soon as I plugged the stick into a USB port, (after plugging in the power supply), it came alive like it is supposed to. A tight, detailed report on the G940 is beyond my ability time wise.So the short of it all is this; Forget all about the bad reviews you may have read because most are dated quite some time ago, (one of the latest I could find was 11 months ago and the rest were over a year). Buy the G940, hook it up and download the software. THEN BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, go to Logitech's website and update the software, (at this point in time it was something like vrs 5.10.1.Then be absolutely sure to find and download the latest FIRMWARE! I believe that is vrs. 1.41 at the time of this review. Don't expect the stick to give you anymore than it promised and you will be happy with it. This is a device for games, (yes, most flight sims are 'games'). Approach it from that point of view and you will be as happy about it as I am.The materials used are metal and plastic but high quality and the feel of the Throttle, Rudder pedals and joystick, (including all the buttons), is better than any I have tried or owned including the Saitek X52, (built better than the X52 by quite a bit might add).I also have and use the Saitek rudder pedals, yoke, throttle, and switch box and I like those but for 'stick controlled' planes and Helicopters the G940 is Definitely the way to go.Great Product and no software/firmware problems, (providing that you make sure you have the latest updates), that I can find in spite of some serious attempts to make it screw up as describe in some reviews. Go for it, you won't regret it and you can always send it back if you don't like it. But try it out and see for yourself!

This review covers the G940 in general, but specifically talks about using it with Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War, a WWI combat simulator by NeoQB.Joystick:Love the shape of the stick, love most of the buttons, love the coolie hat altho I haven't found a use for it yet in Rise of Flight (would be nice to pan the in-flight map). The trigger is quality, and has an excellent feel to it -- more like a real trigger than some $0.43 plastic game controller button as on my previous stick (Logitech Extreme 3D Pro). The force feedback is actually way to strong for my liking at 100% setting (default), but I like it quite much at about 35%. The shaking when rolling a plane hard, touching the ground, or firing MG's is sweet. The pre-stall buffeting is invaluable when flying an aircraft on the edge of stall. Two of the buttons on top of the stick are difficult for me to reach, and I have probably average size hands (I'm 6' tall).Throttle:Very awesome. I'm using the right slide for throttle and the left for radiator. I'm using one of the rotary dials for mixture, and the other for zoom. There are still 4 buttons and two 8-way hats on the throttle that I haven't found a use for yet (TeamSpeak hotkeys maybe?). I'd like to setup the 8 programmable buttons at the base of the throttle to do gestures and flight leader commands, but they don't work in ROF out of the box. It will require a little tweaking in the Logitech software, I guess. In all, the throttle kicks ass.Pedals:Sturdy and accurate. I really wish that the tension dial increased the load on the centering spring so that the pedals snapped to center more readily when torqued down. Instead, the tension dial is basically just a "brake" which applies friction to the pedals throughout their range of motion. I don't always feel the center-detent indicating neutral rudder. This will take some getting used to, I suppose.Software:It kinda sucks in my opinion. I only messed with it for about 3 minute before determining that nearly everything I wanted to do could be easily accomplished directly in the game.Overall:All of the parts feel pretty well made. All of the cables are plenty long enough. I'm very happy with the G940, and I'm pretty sure I'll like it even more as I become proficient with it. Coming from a year or so of using a twist-stick, I really do have to learn how to fly all over again. But I already can't wait to take my SE5a up again, so that's a good sign!

I love ffb for flight sims, but the quality of this is poor both in design and materials. I had to return under warranty my first set cause the rudder pedals went erratic, they required the whole set back and sent a whole different set back. A year or two later the throttle was going erratic, out of warranty I took it apart to fix and discovered how poorly laid out it is internally. I temporarily fixed by allowing more cable slack, a year later had more severe problems, took it apart again and replaced all the wiring, worked well for a few more years, then started having problems again. Finally replaced the last piece of this, the rudder pedals with vkb Mk IV pedals, I realized how disappointing these were. Only the throttle was comfortable. The stick was to "skinny" and too "blocky".