New to the flight sim scene, MOZA who are known for their car racing simulator gear, are going all in on some flight sim gear and the first of it is now available for pre-order. Here are some details that you may want to know about.
Two products now, more to come
MOZA are getting into flight sim gear in a big way with a series of products that they are planning to offer. The first two are their MOZA AB9 FFB BASE and MOZA MH16 flightstick.
The AB9 FFB Base has captured a lot of attention because its one of the first of a new generation of force feedback bases coming to flight simming (WinWing and VIRPIL are the other two that are working on their own). They report that the base has dual servo motors with a constant torque of 9 newton-meters and apeak torque of 12Nm. It is also reportedly made out of aviation-grade aluminum alloy.
MOZA cockpit control software they say will allow you to tweak the experience and adjust control parameters.
It also looks like the company has put together several mounting options for their gear. A force feedback system like this is rather large and multiple solutions are needed to mount it with desk mounts, desktop mounts, and what looks like a solution for chair mounting too for home cockpit builders.
Meanwhile, the MH16 stick is also made from aircraft grade aluminum, has a detatchable modular component system, multiple buttons, hat switches and and an eight way hat.
MOZA is taking pre-orders now for the MOZA AB9 FFB Base at USD $549.00 and for the MOZA MH16 Flightstick at USD $169.00. Also check out their flight section of their website which will see their throttle and pedals solution popping up before too long.
Stormbirds 
So… 600 Euro is $900 $CAD. It feels expensive… Under any measure. Am I just old?
Paul
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From what I was hearing last weekend, it’s likely any force feedback setup is going to come up to around the $1000 mark. Nobody is making a Microsoft Force Feedback 2 level of product.
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It’s normal for a new product category to be launched with high prices first and then gradually become cheaper.
These products have more expensive components and are quite big, meaning more material is needed, shipping is more expensive, etc.
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Does it work with a Stick extension?
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I’m not sure. I thought it had a long throw but in reviewing my photos of it there was no extension. If you’re thinking about it maybe wait and see if they offer it as an option.
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their z axis addition adds 97mm of extension
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Oh wow. I thought it added a small amount but that’s quite a bit!
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Well 549 USD is a lot, a lot more than my Warthog Cost me, about 8 years ago. Well there’s inflation, which is worse than it should be, due to idiotic policies, but it’s still a pretty big step up.
Especially if you look at the AVA base which is half that.
On the other hand, it is significantly less than the Brunner (close to half) and 200-250 off from the VP Force Rhino. Which makes it more affordable for people like me.
And FFB is a pretty big improvement if you fly non-FBW aircraft like the Tomcat.
Now what I don’t like is that it’s a chinese company, mainly due to politics and the fact that in said country QC nearly doesn’t seem to exist* and that would make support more complicated.
Also the low labour costs and non-existent worker protections do help chinese companies to cut prices below where others can compete.
I would also highly recommend the MOZA PR team to learn a bit more about the simming landscape, claiming support, as they made a big blunder on release, when they claimed support for leading Simulators and listed War Thunder among their number, but not IL-2. Way to piss off a big chunk of the customer base, especially given the rather strong feelings WT tends to evoke.
Notable in it’s absence is also Falcon BMS, which I play a lot and would play into any buying decision for me. Support for FSX is appreciated, I think, but FSX is pretty much a non-factor these days.
I think they should seriously think about supporting both modern IL-2s (Great Battles and Cliffs of Dover) as well as 1946 Forgotten Battles, as the latter is still played a lot. And Falcon BMS is pretty much non-negotiable, that is a must!
They should also seriously start working with the Combat Pilot Team, as that is a very interesting team with a very mature look on Flight simming.
*I work in Labtop repair and last week we had a spate of replacement parts, namely system/Mainboard had a DOA rate of 2/3s to 3/4s, which really held up our work. And right in the week where they do work evaluations….
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