Virpil VPC Mongoos T-50 CM3 REVIEW (Not Radio)

RELUCTANT UPGRADE!

I recently moved my FlightSim PC from my Radio Shack to our Hobby Room. It would make both hobbies so much more pleasant due to spacing. Unfortunately, it ended in a bit of a disaster too. My beloved Thrustmaster Warthog Hotas Throttle decided to transform itself into a  very expensive paperweight.

 

No amount of fettling would bring the old girl (well only two year old actually) back to life, so it meant I'd have to order a replacement PCB at a cost of around £60 but they're not currently available due to the global Silicon Chip shortage.  So I dug out my CH PRO USB throttle in its place and then immediately remembered why I'd put it away in the first place. 

Windows cannot recognise your device 😰

The CH PRO throttle and FighterStick cost around £250, so they're not exactly budget items, but after using a Warthog Hotas, they certainly feel cheap! It was no use - I just couldn't live with the CH kit any more and so I looked for a new throttle  (I'll still repair the broken one when PCB's become available again and then sell it to recoup some money).

Needless to say, I could buy a new Warthog Throttle replacement, but looking on the internet I could see that plenty of people had suffered the same premature failure I had. Not good at these prices. 

So after some research, I discovered that the 'next level up' was the VIRPIL products. They looked magnificent and had rave reviews, but my God, they are expensive 😰

Top of the range is the Virpil VPC Mongoos T-50 CM3. It's their latest model and provides the user with over 140 programmable buttons, dials, switches and sliders. Some may think that's overkill, but believe me, FlightSims soon gobble up those assignments!

The Virpil £Ouch!

The unit costs a staggering £450. Yeh, that's outrageous! That's more than I paid for my Warthog Thottle & Stick combined! Well if you spend a lot of time on your hobbies and want the best, then you have to pay for it - or don't - your choice.

Just like everything else, the Virpil products are on back-order and it was just a stroke of luck that I stumbled upon one for sale on eBay - couldn't believe it! I ordered it on a Sunday night and it arrived on the following Tuesday.

As soon as you pick this baby up, you just know that it's something very, very special. It OOZES quality and all those switches and rotaries feel oh so smooth. The big throttle levers slide backwards and forwards with almost no lateral movement at all. The supplied detents allow you to choose where and when the idle/off and afterburner starts and stops. The finger-levers at the front just fall into your grip, allowing you to move past the detents with ease.

Most of the rotaries and hats also have a push-button to add to their usefulness. The six large square buttons are illuminated and each one can be altered to display its own colour. Additionally, you can flick off the covers of the switches and insert a description label - there's a pack of useful icons supplied in the box, but I prefer to make my own.

 

In addition to the supplied configuration software, you can also open up the throttle and make physical adjustments to the way the levers work. It's just another way that Virpil provide the ultimate levels of customisation. That's cool!

 

The connections for the USB leads are proprietary and at first I couldn't see the value in them, but then I realised that the option would be to have a fixed cable or a USB socket, neither of which is great afaik. Virpil's connector is very strong and stable and they provide a pass-thru socket for attaching other Virpil products to - that's a big plus!

The configuration software that I mention earlier is errr, just like most other hotas software - complex!!! I guess there's now way to dumb these things down and you just have to get your head stuck into a book or a few videos. That's where I'm up to right now - figuring out by trial and error how to assign all the functions of my sim to this throttle.

 

This is where I'm up to right now. It takes a lot of time to get through it all and even more to refine things. And remember, assignments usually relate to a specific aircraft, like the F-16C in DCS WORLD. If I switch to a HARRIER or an A-10, then I have to use different assignments (although some will obviously be common to all). 

Thankfully, the VPC T-50 CM3 has a 5-position selector switch which I'm hoping will permit me to program five different aircraft into the device and switch from one to another quickly and easily. I'll report back on that 😂 Wish me luck! 

Finally, I managed to replicate the ICP from the F-16 on my StreamDeck. This will be really handy, since it means you don't have to scramble around for your mouse to make adjustments. I've not assigned keystrokes to it yet, because some of the ICP buttons don't have keys assigned by default.

 

 

Here's some VPC pix...

Specification from manufacturer:

VPC MongoosT-50CM3 - Throttle Control System

The VPC MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle is the newest generation of our popular VPC MongoosT-50 Throttle design. Designed to integrate into every VPCockpit control set, it can also be used as a stand alone throttle unit.

As with our flightstick base units, the internal mechanics are constructed from high precision aircraft-grade duralumin which offer tension adjustment (accessed internally) and use our high precision, digital contactless VPC sensors.

The MongoosT-50CM3 Throttle now includes our brand new detent system. Controlled via all-metal finger-lift levers, the detent system can be adjusted via quickly interchangable detent plates to create the perfect setup no matter what you're flying!

Included Detent Sets:

★ “Classic” Detents - Lift to pass detents, push return.
★ “Classic Plus” Detents - Lift to pass detents, push return but with an additional tactile bump immediately after crossing the detent range.
★ “Warthog-Type” Detents - Lift to pass and lift to return detents.
★ “Aerobatic” Detents - Push through and push return detents.
★ “CosmoSim” Detents - Push through central detent.

Featuring 6 x LED momentary buttons with a transparent cap which can be removed to insert your own button inlays - perfect for labelling your controls!

There is now our detachable USB and AUX connection points which will allow daisy chaining with other VPC devices such as our VPC Control Panels for simplifying your setup.

The full feature set includes a huge number of controls surfaces and configuration possibilities that will surely satisfy even the most avid of virtual pilots!

Throttle Base Panel:

★ 6 x Customisable Momentary Buttons
★ 3 x Momentary Toggle Switches (ON-OFF-ON) 
★ 4 x Latched Toggle Switches (ON-ON) 
★ 1 x 5-Way Mode Dial
★ 2 x Encoder Dials (+ Push)
★ 2 x Throttle Axes (VPC Contactless Sensors)
★ 1 x Auxiliary Axis (VPC Contactless Sensor)

Throttle Handles:

★ 1 x 8-Way Hat (+ Push)
★ 3 x 4-Way Hat (+ Push)
★ 1 x 2-Way Hat (+ Push)
★ 1 x Encoder Dial
★ 1 x Encoder Dial (+ Push)
★ 4 x Momentary Push Buttons
★ 1 x Slider Axis
★ 1 x Analogue Ministick (+ Push)

 

 

 

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