Force Feedback Joystick?

[RotaryCoyote]

One of my biggest issues with sim flying is that I cant feel the joystick force change while trimming, or pulling G's etc, and both joysticks I've owned feel awful compared to the real deal.

Can anyone recommend a good joystick that has force feedback? I'm guessing it will be pricey. And is FSX even capable of force feedback?

[APUtech]

Yes, FSX does (did) support force feedback joysticks.

The Logitech G940 is a good choice for force feedback flight in FSX but having been an actual Private/Commercial pilot for several years, personally I don't care for them all that much. I've had a few force feedback joysticks over the years: CH, Microsoft and Logitech, and none of them lived up to my expectations. Some were actually dangerous to use because the amount of feedback force was such that they caused physical injury to my right wrist. Of the three, the Logitech G940 was the least dangerous.

If you spend a few hundred hours simming your body and mind will gradually adapt to the missing physical feedback that you'd get flying an actual airplane. I've had better experiences with force feedback flying jetliners versus light aircraft because the maneuvers in the jets are more gradual and don't require a lot of stick movement, plus, most of your flight in a jetliner is on AP.

If you do decide to buy a force feedback joystick I would recommend getting one that has at least a 30-day return policy, in case you aren't happy with it. You'll find that the majority of flight simmers who've owned them don't care for them very much.

Happy flying!

APUtech