Saitek J24C X45 Flight Control System Joystick and Throttle (USB)

I am 56 years old and have been flying REAL planes and Flight Simulators for over 30 years (yeah, I'm one of those dinosaurs)Saitek (in my opinion) has always put out a high quality product. And the 45 is no exception. Very Configurable, sturdy, tight, and very ergonomically correct. The nicest part of this joystick combo? There are not 60 gazillion buttons and does not need a Master's Degree in some obscure programming language. I learned a long time ago that the more "goodies" you have to play with, the more things that can go wrong.The only complaint, and one that I have seen more than once is that the action on the actual joystick (not the rudder) is very tight. Hard to make precision maneuvers without over-steering. Get yourself a couple very small wire ties (zip ties) and compress the spring at the base of the joystick. That will loosen up the action. Two wire ties were sufficient for my preferences.Bottom line, I have used and in my possession the Thrustmaster HOTAS X, the Thrustmaster TM-16000 with throttle and rudder pedals, used to have a Logitech (I think it was called a Wingman), and a Saitek 36 (which was serial and 15 pin game port) This 45 is USB and there is a 6 foot 15 pin cable which plugs into the front of the joystick. Then there is a 6' USB cable that plugs into the computer. I use the paddles on the bottom of the throttle handle for my rudder. Works just fine, but I would recommend adjusting the sensitivity and dead zone.All in All.... for my money, I can not find a better joystick. And being that I have built my own little "mid age crisis" flight simulator in my extra bedroom, you can expect that I was being very picky about my setup. The Saitek 45 made it all come together nicely

I purchased the X-45 to replace an aging Fox 2 Pro and at first all seemed to be OK. However in a short period of time the swashplate that rides on the centering spring (visible in pictures on the main joystick shaft) began to bind due to the excessive amount of spring tension. Simply put, the spring it uses is way too strong for the joystick. This problem is rectified on the next up unit the X-52 which is an excellent system. The mainshaft is aluminum and the spring pressure almost not noticeable.I emailed the Saitek people about the problem, and they told me that "sometimes moisture can get on the shaft and cause it to bind, but that using a teflon lubricant can sometimes cure this"I tried every type of lubricant I could think of and cleaned the shaft between tries with contact cleaner and it just could not be cured. The pressure from the spring is just too much, and sadly it doesn't need to be that strong. I tried to cut a turn of the coil off the spring... but HA-HA... spring steel is much too strong for me... it would take a jewelers pair of bolt cutters to reach in there. The problem is not because the spring is too strong to overcome... rather it binds up the plate to the point where you have to apply so much pressure that when it finally lets it move, you overshoot the amount of pressure needed so it becomes as if you were repairing a watch with a sledge hammer. I thought that I would be able to adapt from using the twist method for rudder control on the Fox 2 Pro to the rocker switch on the X-45 but once again I was dissapointed. The amount of travel on the rocker is insufficient for making small corrections. Again... the X-52 corrects this problem by allowing the twist feature for rudder control.Furthermore the friction control on the throttle is almost non-existent. Eventually the throttle will loosen up as the demo units in the stores will show you, but they are way too stiff when new/un-used even to the point of rocking up off their base when trying to make an adjustment. There are "keyhole" mounting holes on the bottom of the units so that they can be mounted to a lap board, desk top, or arms of a chair, anything that will allow the screw heads to be raised from the surface and the unit locked on. (screws NOT provided of course)When you first place your hand on the joystick, you will find it to be a tight fit. My first thought was that it was made for kids hands, but then I discovered the one button I could not locate and it was on the front top of the joystick and required your hand to go around and on top of the guard. An unusual fit to say the least, but something you can come to terms with easily enough. All being said, the quality of the work is fine, but the functional use of the unit is poor.

The Saitek X45 Joystick/Throttle system contains all of the features I would ask for as a flight sim enthusiast who has gone through far too many joystick options. The 6 programmable axes (X, Y, Z, and Rz, plus Rx and Ry as dials) feel smooth and tight through their range of travel, with adjustable tension for a customizable feel. The throttle features a detent near the full-forward position which provides tactile feedback for afterburner control (which was automatically programmed in the sims I tried) and the dials sport detents at the center position which is very useful for calibration, as well as repositioning associated controls within the game to a neutral position.There are 8 programmable buttons and a pair of 3-position digital sliders, which are pretty straightforward. The inclusion of 3 eight-direction hat switches (two on the stick and one on the throttle) provides excellent options for additional controls as well as view control. With most sticks supplying only one hat switch, I often had to make the difficult choice between extra functions on the stick or a view control. The only feature missing is a center press-down button on one of the hat switches, similar to the stick button on the PS3 and XBox 360 controllers, which would allow for easily returning the view to the center.There is also an 8-way mini control stick on the throttle that is designed to serve as mouse control. While the idea seems handy, the stick is positioned at an awkward angle that renders it rather unintuitive and thereby useless.A minor complaint is the bulk of the system and the cord tangle across your desktop. The bases of both the throttle and joystick are quite large and space-consuming. The throttle utilizes a cord which plugs into the joystick. It is long enough to reach around your monitor, which means it will generally have enough slack to take up more room and cause more clutter. The USB cable which connects the stick to your computer is also quite long, which is useful if your computer is located on the floor or anywhere distant from the monitor. On the other hand, again, longer cord equals more clutter.I used this system on both Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6. On both OS's the flight controller worked exactly as expected: easy to set up, reliable, and intuitive within the game.

Works great but issues with software provided and does not appear to be supported by Saitek anymore to download it in so far as I can tell, however windows 7 calibration wizard works fine with it and its not an issue. Stick itself works great, very smooth, fine control.