Hardcore sim-pilots can easily drop a few hundred dollars on a good flight stick, yoke, or throttle quadrant. Rudder pedals usually cost even more. However, in the last couple of years, a whole slew of more affordable peripherals have been released to the marketplace. Usually, these peripherals are sold separately or in flight stick/throttle bundles. Rare is it that rudder pedals are included in the mix – until now. Logitech has an all-in-one flight sim solution for your geeky mitts to get a hold of in their new G940 Flight System.
All of the peripherals in the G940 Flight System are of good construction using a mixture of metal and plastic, with a good amount of rubberized plastics where grip is of concern. The throttle and stick even have screw holes to mount them to your home cockpit or desk! This already puts Logitech ahead of the crowd as most peripheral makers in the market don’t think to add such a useful feature.
Unlike most combat-sim flight sticks out there which model themselves after the side-stick in the F-16D, the flight stick of the G940 is setup similar to the one found in an F-15 fighter. Its rubberized plastic grip is very comfortable and the many buttons and hats on the model were easy to navigate with my fingers. The Force Feedback is exceptional and can be so strong it lifts the unit off of your desk! I believe this is one of the reasons Logitech included screw holes on the base. However, I would have also liked to have seen Logitech include some sort of desk clamp that did not involve me screwing into my desk top. One issue that still persists in some games such as Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X is that there is no return to center force during flight. This problem has plagued Force Feedback sticks since their creation. Thankfully, it does not happen in every game and, even when it does, you will get used to it soon enough. At the base of the flight stick can be found two trim wheels and a trim dial. I found these to be a bit too sensitive by default for practical usage in Lock-On: Flaming Cliffs and Flight Simulator X, mainly due to their small size. You will need to adjust their sensitivity to get good results with them.
Logitech has also taken the dual-throttle layout of the F-15 and used it in the design of the G940’s throttle quadrant. The throttle can be used in both single and twin-engine simulations as there is a locking toggle bolt at the base of the handle which allows the two throttle levers to move independently or with one another. Like with the flight stick, the buttons on the rubberized grip work very well with crisp detentes and response action. There is a bank of 8 buttons at the base of the throttle quadrant which can be programmed for whatever purposes you desire. They glow a pleasant green color and are also used as status lights when the G940 first boots itself up. The throttle levers themselves are smooth all throughout the transition from nill thrust to full afterburner and never “hitch up” or get stuck.
The rudder pedals are of a high-quality, metal construction that feel excellent. I was not expecting them to be that good, as rudder pedals are so often cheaply made. However, these have a smooth rotating action as well as the ability to tilt forward for use as toe brakes.
Both the throttle and rudder units plug into the flight stick which is then connected via USB 2.0 interface to the PC. Setup is very simple and the G940 can be used in plug and play mode or with the Logitech software package included in the packaging. By way of the software, you can assign the system three different modes, accessible by a toggle on the throttle quadrant. That means that you can switch the functions of your buttons and switches on the fly. I found it best to assign the three modes to navigation, air-to-air, and air-to-ground setups while flying in Lock-On: Flaming Cliffs. You really get a full HOTAS (hands-on throttle and stick) experience this way and it is a blast to use. In the new DCS: A-10C Warthog flight simulator, there were some issues assigning various controls to the G940 setup, but a quick skimming of the forums helped alleviate this issue.
Overall, Logitech has a great quality product in the G940 Flight Control System as well as a huge value for about $250 dollars – no other quality HOTAS build includes yoke, throttle quadrant, and rudder pedals for that low of a price. For You can find the G940 Flight Control System at retailers like Amazon.com.
