VPC’s new helicopter gear sure to delight sim helicopter pilots

2–3 minutes

The flight sim helicopter market has been underserved by hardware makers over the years but that all seems to be changing as various companies start offering new gear that appeals to the helicopter enthusiasts. The newest, the VPC Hawk-60 Collective Grip has just been offered for sale. Let’s have a look!

VPC Hawk-60 Collective Grip

The latest announcement is news that VIRPIL are offering a replica of the UH-60’s cyclic grip. It’s not an officially licensed product and VIRPIL have taken some liberties with the design to make it more usable but suffice to say it looks like they have packed some features into this grip to make it useful for a variety of helicopter flight sims.

Among the feature are a single stage trigger, several hat switches, and a 3-way toggle with an ON-OFF-ON configuration.

Here’s the official feature list:

  • Replica Collective Grip
  • Material – Enhanced PU Plastic Construction with Metal Grip Faceplate
  • Single-Stage Trigger
  • 4 x 8-way Hats (+ Push) *
  • 1 x 2-way Hat (+ Push)
  • 1 x 3-way Toggle (ON-OFF-ON)
  • 1 x Push Button with RGB Lighting

Having quite a bit of familiarity with VPC’s construction methods, this grip will very likely match some of their other products like the WarBRD grip that I’ve reviewed previously. Tough and likely to last quite a while!

The new grip has already sold out but VPC is reporting that they are often able to clear backorders in just a couple of weeks now. The grip is on sale through their webstore for €189.95.

That’s not all that VPC has been busy offering.

VPC SharKa-50 Collective Grip

Another option that’s been out for some months is the new SharKa-50 which, as the name implies, is a Ka-50 replica and very surely aimed at fans of this helicopter in DCS World. Similar to the Hawk-60, the SharKa-50 has a good collection of hat switches and one three way toggle. It also has three push buttons.

  • 2 x 8-way Hats (+ Push)
  • 1 x 2-way Switch (+ Push)
  • 3 x 3-way Toggles (ON-OFF-ON)
  • 3 x Push Buttons

This product is also back-ordered and is available through their store for €189.95.

VPC Rotor TCS and TCS Plus Base

The other hardware that VPC has been busy creating for helicopter pilots is the VPC Rotor TCS Base and VPC TCS Plus Base. Both are intended to be connected to the above grips and both come with a clutch mechanism and adjustable cams to determine the range of travel.

The Plus version adds a throttle twist axis input with engine idle button and switch restrictors which increases the functionality. It also increases the price.

VPC is offering the VPC Rotor TCS Base for €189.95 and the VPC Rotor TCS Plus Base for €289.95. When purchased as a bundle, VPC are also currently offering a 10% discount.

There are also several mounting solutions available with VIRPIL suggesting that both their own kit or a DIY solution are possible depending on the office chair that you’d like to sacrifice to the goal of having the most realistic helicopter flying experience possible. Learn more on VIRPIL’s website.

3 responses to “VPC’s new helicopter gear sure to delight sim helicopter pilots”

  1. Osskozzot Avatar
    Osskozzot

    As a proud owner of the TCS Plus Base with SharKa-50 Grip I do not regret my purchase one bit. I preorder it when they first announced it back in May and received it during the summer. The only time i was concerned about my Base was after 2 weeks of use, the collective was going down by itself resulting in a ball of fire as my ka-50 hit the deck… Until I found out that there’s a tension screw easily accessible on top of the box to fix the problem.
    I’m surprised them went with the Hawk-60 replica grip, I was hoping for an Apache grip as its quite unique looking. Although, the Hawk-60 grip looks like a better quality as the SharKa-50. the face plate looks to be a metal one compared to the all plastic Ka-50 grip. I wish the Ka-50 grip had a trigger (for the collective break) and the thumb 8-way hat.
    I really hope they come up with an Apache Grip, the new features on the Hawk-60 grip looks promising.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. CanadaOne Avatar
    CanadaOne

    Oooh that looks nice. Would love to have it for my Ka-50. Not gonna happen, but it’s a nice thought.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. ShamrockOneFive Avatar
      ShamrockOneFive

      For dedicated helicopter sim pilots, this whole thing is bound to be incredible.

      It’s not my focus but I know first hand now gear like this can be transformative. Good to see! Hopefully we’ll see some lower cost options emerge too.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

Leave a reply to ShamrockOneFive Cancel reply

Trending