FLNKR Grip

This is my first experience of Virpil products, other than reading reviews and watching reviews on you tube. Now Virpil Controls will be my go to shop for hardware.

The quality of this grip is just exquisite. It's top notch just as others have said.

For me the ergonomics are fantastic, place your hand on the grip and it feels as though everything just falls into place naturally as regards triggers, buttons and hats etc. Being a full size 1:1 replica helps in this regard.

Now I wouldn't consider myself to have huge hands by any means, maybe borderline medium/large but I have no issue in reaching the red A/P off button. Even with my finger on the pinkie button I can comfortably reach the red A/P off button with my thumb. I did adjust the palm rest slightly to achieve this. For people with smaller hands this button may be a bit of a stretch but not a huge inconvenience.

All other buttons and hats are positioned perfectly and the buttons have a reassuring firmness to them such that they will not be activated by accident.

I find the three triggers perfectly positioned and easy to operate once you get the idea of them. The flip up trigger is easily operated by the tip of the forefinger giving easy and natural access to the two stage trigger and the main single stage trigger.

Although the two stage trigger can be reached with the flip up trigger in the down position, it is easier when in the flipped up position which I think is the point of the design.

The brake lever is great with a nice spring tension to it giving precise controlled operation.

The extra hat caps included a nice thought should you wish to change them from the standard set up. Also included is a very nice eco leather cover which is lined to protect this beauty when not in use.

Virpil have pulled out all the stops on this. It is a beautiful, very well engineered piece of hardware and the ergonomics are just perfect for me.

This level of quality is what I have been seeking for a very long time. I also have the v max prime throttle which arrived the day after I received the grip. The throttle is equally impressive.

If I could give more than 5 stars I would.

VIRPIL!!!!!! Please!!!!!

I would higly recommend this grip. I changed my old HOTAS WARTHOG on FLNKR grip and it was my best decision

I bought this grip to replace my older MongooseT-50 CM, and I'm really glad I did. This grip definitely has a more premium feel, and the trigger mechnism is excellent. Ideal for anything on the red side in DCS! The premium packaging and chice of hat switches is also a nice touch. As is the included dust cover.

My only gripe is the mini DIN/PS2 connector. I really hope taht Virpil drop this at some point and adopt a contactless/spring loaded system, similar to what Moza have on their wheel bases. An adaptor could easily be retro-fitted to all bases and grips... Something for the future perhaps?

Also endlich ist mein Joystick angekommen. Was soll ich sagen, es ist der Wahnsinn. Er fühlt sich einfach super an, sehr hochwertig und beste Qualität. Ich habe dazu eine Verlängerung geholt, und fliege damit Flugzeuge, sowie Hubschrauber. Ich musste einmal meine Bestellung ändern, um die passende Base und die Verlängerung für den Stick zu holen. Das Virpil Team hat mich in allen Schritten unterstützt und geholfen. Ich bin rund um zufrieden, und werde auf jeden Fall noch mehr Geld bei Virpil lassen. So ein Service ist heutzutage nicht mehr selbstverständlich. Also. Holt euch das Ding, und überzeugt euch selbst. Es lohnt sich, selbst bei langer Wartezeit.

I bought this grip to potentially replace my Alpha Prime. I had reservations about the unusual trigger arrangement, but I was prepared to give it a go.
Well, I'm very glad I did, as the quality is excellent, and the trigger configuration was not an issue at all after I did a bit of a rethink on how to incorporate it into DCS.

Pros:

•Very solid feel, yet comparably lightweight
•Great ergonomics and button layout
•If you dont need 4-way hats everywhere, you can switch them to 2-ways or buttons. Wobbly hats as buttons are a thing of the past, and the solution is simple and elegant
•Great trigger assortment, especially for eastern aircraft
•The buttons and the trim hat are a big upgrade compared to the Alpha Prime

Cons:
•The autopilot trigger is only single-stage. A two-stage trigger would be more flexible here and I see no cons
•The stick extends quite a lot below the handrest. This can be an issue if you have a floor mounted stick with an S-shape extension for helicopter flying (the stick suits the KA-50 well), since the extension has to clear your seats upper surface. Without a cutout in the seat, the stick will either be too high or too far forward. For jets this is a non-issue

Things to improve:
•The swappable hat caps can be only cents of the cost, so please add a few more so every combination is possible (for example button only on the Index finger). I will print some.

Very well build Quality. I love it. Absolutely worth the wait. Delivery was earlier then initially estimated.
I have smaller hands and wear 7,5 or medium gloves in Hospital but the Size is absolutely perfect and every button is good to reach. I would buy it again.
I use the Stick with the WarBRD D Base on a Monstertech Mount on my desk.

By far the best flight simulator hardware you can get. The quality is outstanding, and programming the hardware via the VPC software is intuitive once you get the hang of it. I mainly use the stick for DCS World, and it's incredibly fun to fly with. Especially with the Russian aircraft, there's an unbelievable boost in realism. I wouldn't want to be without this stick. Virpil is more than just a name; it represents an indescribable flying experience.

What more can I say? I've been using this for a few months now and I have no regrets. It feels good and it works like a charm. The flip trigger especially is a great feature. Mine came with a mix of English and Russian labels, I was able to ship it back to Virpil's warehouse for free and they sent me a new one with my requested labels, again free of charge. Great customer support!

I have one word of warning: this grip is not for people with small hands. I'd say I have medium-sized hands (7ish inches from wrist to the tip of my middle finger) and the furthest buttons and triggers on this grip would be out of reach if my fingers were even a half inch shorter.

Brief overview: I'm running this with a Z extension on a Rhino VP base. There is nothing to remark upon, it all works perfectly.

This grip is the best I’ve experienced to date! Finally opting for Virpil over Thrustmaster doesn’t mean a plasticky joystick, but a metal one, the feel of which is superior in every single regard!

There are but a few downsides to the stick overall which I feel should be addressed:

This is a quite large stick, I find myself having to somewhat shift the grip of my hand to reach some buttons (e.g. thé big red pickle button (or autopilot button if you’re viewing it as a Soviet design, which in fairness it is). This quickly became second nature to me and doesn’t impact my use of the stick at all, but customers with smaller hands (for reference my glove size is 8) may actually find that the stick is too large for them to be able to use. The stick could (probably should) have been shrunk by 10% or so.

The second point is that the main trigger, i.e. the “normal” trigger as seen on Western designs is only a single stage trigger. I am aware that this is accurate to the original Soviet design… but 95% of customers will be using this stick for more than playing just Soviet planes, and making this trigger two stage would not have hurt even those few who use it solely for Soviet planes. The fold down trigger ahead of it is two stage, but I still don’t find that it’s a substitute which I enjoy. The travel range of it is longer than on a “normal” trigger, and being that it’s spring loaded upwards, you have to reach for it and pull it down as opposed to being able to just find a big “normal” trigger already down and in place.

The last point also touches on the fold down trigger: the one on my stick is sticky, sufficiently so that i sometimes need to nudge it back up from its second stage as it does stick down there on occasion after pulling it.

The first two criticisms can be countered with “this is true to the original design”, but frankly speaking Virpil has never done “100% sim pit”, so I don’t quite see how strictly adhering to reality over flexibility won out in this case. Flexible designs which can easily be adapted to different modules in DCS is what made me buy the CM3 throttle which I’m still happily using.

It is the first stick from VIRPIL from such a build quality.
I really like how you can easily switch from a 3-way switch to a 5-way switch. Very smart and well-thought what this stick has to offer.

I finally got my VPC Flanker! I'm using the FFBeast base, so the metal handle construction is essential. I'm very happy with this purchase. Even when I encountered some issues, the tech support team was very helpful in resolving them.

Then look no further. Get the FLNKR grip and live happily ever after. It is wonderfully shaped, sits so well in your hand, and can also be adjusted with a screw by the hand rest. It's quite a genious move to let the customer choose between to buttons being push only, or hat switches according to their needs. The casing is also made in metal which gives the stick some nice heft and weight. The sides have a grippy rubber surface which i think was a good thing to go for, giving your sweaty palm extra comfort and grip for longer sim sessions. I use the stick both for center and right side stick action, and the ability to twist the stick a bit off-center is much appreciated in both instances.
The buttons have a really good and positive feel to them and you never need wonder if you've pushed one or not. Some users have found the analoge thumb four way stick (used in the MiG-29 and Flanker) for target tracking to be somewhat superfluous and would rather have a normal hat switch. To these people i'd like to point out that this is the FLNKR grip, heavily inspired from the stick in the real thing, designed to give the user a feel for how it is to use the grip in the real world and what it can offer you. I've also used it with helicopters, something which it works really well for too, but don't forget to get an extension.

The metal grip feels solid and well made especially compared to the older mongoose grips. The grip is thicker and it fits more comfortably in the hand. The buttons are comfortable to reach. I'm still getting used to the multi-trigger setup though.
The additional X-Y axis thumbstick is a bit of a waste though in my opinion. I would love the option to replace this with a hat switch instead.

I've only had it for about 2 weeks now and I love it, it comes with everything that you need to properly set it up and use it, and the additional stand and leather cover are great additions to it. I love the clickity clackity buttons on it, the tactile feel is incredible.

This is the best grip I have ever bought / used. If you're thinking about it but not sure, honestly just go for it. It feels great in your hand, the option to change some of the buttons is amazing and it's packaged so well and really is presented like a premium item (which it is, no doubt about that) upon opening

3 triggers in total, the main one marked "A/P (Autopilot) Trigger" is one stage only, but it's replicating the actual aircraft this stick is modeled after so no complaints there, one of the triggers is dual stage anyway, and to top of off there's a 3rd one stage trigger. Did I say it feels great?

This grip is lightweight and quite long, you can use it in center mount setup with MongoosT base without any extension, it gives you quite enough travel range! Regarding the buttons and hats... you won't find any better grip on the market. The only thing I don't understand is why Su-35? There's no chance to see this aircraft in any well-known sim anytime soon. Probably in decades. That kills an immersion a little bit. Fictional FBW jet grip inspired by existing jets would be a better option... Otherwise, I love this thing and recommend it

Installed it on my 200mm extension, connected to my vpforce rhino ffb. All fits to perfection. The ministick is very very good and presice, and I have all the buttons I can ask for. Loved that I can rotate the stick to the left for center stick position.

From the time I ordered the FLKR Grip to putting it into operation on my Warthog base, everything went smoothly. As a grown man, I was as happy as a little kid when I unpacked the goods today. The Mig-29 in DCS World can finally be released! (But I think I'll have even more fun with the Mi-24 and Mi-8 in the future with this stick). I was aware that the stick wasn't 100% supported on the Warthog base; Virpil also stated this on their website. A corresponding base from Virpil will probably (have to) follow in the coming months. The stick is quite a bit larger than the Warthog Stick, so I'll have to get used to it a bit. The only thing that really bothers me so far is the very small palm rest. And the fact that, even when you screw it on very tightly, it comes loose again after a few hand movements.

I've been waiting for so long to change the A-10 HOTAS WARTHOG replica which is not that a good quality actually and broke multiple times and had to fix it. With experience in replacing a lot of HOTAS gaming devices, I haven't seen one as sturdy and so wonderfully and carefully done like this one. I'm the happiest virtual pilot now.

I love it, impressive stick I use it for my black shark and

I replaced an old CM2 grip with this. I run it on a center mounted CM3 base with a 125mm extension (75 + 50), heavy springs fully tightened, aircraft cams, no center detent, lightly dampened. The extra weight of the metal body is a significant improvement to the over all balance of the setup. It adds a nice resistance to the springs' return-to-center pull. I was able to reduce the dampening because of the extra weight and find that the setup has a more natural feel now. It has a larger body compared to the CM2, I find both comfortable but probably prefer the FLNKR. My main complaint about the CM2 was that the 4-way switches were too soft, leading to unintended button presses. The new switches have a nice click to them and a more definitive feel.
I don't understand why it doesn't have a two stage main trigger though. There's an extra middle trigger that's a two stage, but it's a bit gimmicky and doesn't make a good substitute for the main trigger. That really seems like a missed opportunity. It is the only thing I don't like about the FLNKR though. The 4 four stars are for the lack of a two stage trigger. If it had one, it would be a 5.

What a great product. The grip does it's job very, very well. Pro look & feel.

Hello! I received the shipment I was waiting for so long. It was worth the wait. Beautiful workmanship, comfortable FLNKR Grip, smooth and extremely precise WarBRD-D Base with the possibility of individual adjustment, to which the Flightstick Extension - 200mm adds even more realism. Perfect! Highly recommended! Thank you! Best regards from Bulgaria.

Incredible quality!

The grip is fantastic, very well finished and made of excellent material. The only defect I find is the connection system with the base which in my case is a Rhino VPC but it doesn't matter with other bases. The peripheral industry should come to an agreement and implement a standard better than a simple plug. Otherwise perfect, it was worth waiting three months.