Logitech Flight System G940
I had the honor of checking out Logitech’s G940 this year. Logitech has went out of their way to check out actual cockpits of a wide variety of air planes and helicopters to help give gamers the best available experience. The first thing you’ll notice about the G940 is the sturdy design. Steel encasing for the joystick, throttle control and steel rudder pedals. The bottom of the rudder pedals includes a Velcro like pads to prevent the rudders from sliding around on a carpeted floor when you’re performing those all to important defensive maneuvers. They bottom of the pedals even include rubber feet if the flooring is wood or concrete to prevent the aforementioned sliding. The rudders, joystick and throttle can also be secured with screws to a desk. Gamers who have logged tons of hours in Warbirds, Flight Simulator X and quite possibly the Battlefield gamers will find this excellent for dog fights.
Impressions
To be quite honest, I’ve been out of the flight/combat sim scene for quite some time. I was surprised I was able to get the plane up in the air without too much trouble. I’m not used to actual rudders, so I was steering that thing left and right across the tarmac like I was some kind of drunken fool. But when I was up in the air, I started performing some daring maneuvers to test the force feedback which was more than just a “shake” like on most joy sticks, but provides resistance when you hit turbulence or when you tried to pull a daring move. The joystick has two dials to allow for sensitivity adjustment on the fly. It was interesting to watch Nathan attempt to fly a MIG. A man who’s only experience with air craft is sleeping in coach. Nathan managed to get the jet up in the air on his fourth attempt and shot down one bogie before mans greatest enemy – the ocean got the best of him.
Features
The major features include force feed back so it feels like you’re piloting the actual thing. You will even feel resistance if you’re turning to hard to right or left, or feel the joy stick vibrate if you’re engines are starting to stall out.
The dual throttle control allows for controlling left and right engines on the fly. If the aircraft only has one engine, simply just flip a switch on the throttle and the dual throttles become one. The throttle control even has a slight “stick” before you throw your jet into overdrive – just like the real thing.
The G940 kit comes with a wide variety of programmable buttons via the software. The software also has profiles and will auto-detect most games and will allow you customize each game on an individual level. There are eight buttons on the throttle that illuminate red, green, amber and off to indicate if you are having problems with your aircraft or if everything is… in the green.
The G940 is slated for release this September and will retail for about $299.99
