Feel the Fight of Flight

Logitech launches force feedback controller for flight sim fans.

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By Nathan Davis on 3 June, 2009

I don’t really know how big the PC flight simulation enthusiast market is, but clearly it’s enough to warrant a new gee-whiz controller. Today at E3, Logitech lifted the lid on its first top of the line force feedback flight sim controller that it calls the Flight System G940.

Plugging into a USB port, it includes three main components, those being a split throttle that can interlock, a directionally precise force feedback joystick, and stainless-steel rudder pedals that sport carpet grips. Oh, and 250 button options – all of which are programmable, the idea being you can play without touching the keyboard. Compatible with “most popular PC flight simulators,” Logitech says these include Microsoft Flight Simulator X, IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, Falcon: Allied Force, Lock On: Modern Air Combat X-Plane 9, Enemy Engaged 2, and DCS: Black Shark.

According to the company, the G940 was inspired by the real thing, including both commercial and military planes and helicopters. “We approached this project with the goal of redefining the flight sim experience,” beams Logitech’s Ruben Mookerjee. “Whether you’re flying an A380, an F/A-18 Hornet or a Comanche helicopter, when you want to feel the wind on your wings, control engines together or independently or master tricky manoeuvres, the G940 behaves and feels like the real thing – from takeoff to landing.”

It’s a pretty impressive looking controller, and certainly a far cry in design from the likes of my old Logitech Wingman Formula GP, whose plastic pedals always managed to creep out of reach at the worst of times. That said, it’d better be, as the expected price tag is a rather princely US$300.

Here’s the company’s excitable Mark Starrett showing it off.

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