USB of course.
I want to get back into flight sims. Back when I played Falcon and F-19 Stealth Fighter (the original title) I used one like this
So what would be a good one to buy today?
I have no opinions on the subject but those who do will need to know your price range. Are you just looking for a joystick or do you want to go all the way with a HOTAS?
I got a WinWing Ursa Minor a few months ago in preparation for MS FS2024 and with the idea of hitting up the Falcon 4.0 mod BMS.
Since they had a warehouse in Canada, it was one of the few high-quality options that didn’t crush me with shipping and import fees. If that wasn’t a problem, I’d probably have done the VKB Gladiator instead (the Ursa is supposedly a ripoff of it.) The WinWing website was pretty sketchy, but it all worked out.
Pretty easy to pair it with a throttle later to convert it into a HOTAS setup.
What does HOTAS mean on a joystick?
A HOTAS is a joystick and a throttle pair.
HOTAS means hands on throttle and stick, basically means that you have a ton of buttons, switches, axis, on the throttle and stick so you can keep your hands on and do most things.
I have the Virpil Mongoose throttle, Constellation Alpha grip and MongoosT-50CM3 Base.
Many military flight simmers use the Thrustmaster options, there’s VBK, and Winwing has good options too.
If you are thinking more GA, there are a few options out there, but I don’t know much about the options, except that Honeycomb stuff looks really nice but they did have some delivery problems that I think are getting resolved but read up on them before you buy.
I will add that in today’s modern flight sim world, you will also want to look into VR, or some form of head/eye tracker, I personally have the TrackIR 5.0, with a home built active LED attachment for my headset. This enables you to look around virtually by moving your head, it really adds to the realism vs. dobbing a button hat around or pressing the various keys on the num pad.
The Thrustmaster HOTAS One is a good entry level joystick for sims: T.Flight Hotas One | Thrustmaster U.S eShop
There are better ones for a lot more money, but at the $99 price point it’s hard to do better. You can often find them used, open box, or refurb too. For example, it’s $40 shipped from Best Buy.
You can also get it in a kit with rudder pedals for $199: T.Flight Full Kit X Joystick | Thrustmaster U.S eShop
(But there are enough axes with the joystick alone so the pedals aren’t really necessary. I just use the handle rotation – twisting it left and right – on the flight stick instead.)
I use the Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick Airbus Edition. I use it for both MS Flight Simulator and driving games like American Truck Simulator.
VKB is the sweet spot for quality / value.
Very well made product, far superior to low and mid range solutions like th X52/56 or Thrustmaster T1600. Far more affordable than Virpil and other high end stuff.
I have the NXT Gladiator/ EVO Omni throttle as a HOTAS that I used mostly for Elite Dangerous, but have played around a bit eith DCS and IL2.
Its a modular system that you can customize a lot. The NXT base does have a throttle lever so youbvould start with a single stick no problem.
How do these feel in the hand? It’s hard to tell from the photos. Like are they metal, cheap plastic, or something in between?
I’ve always been intrigued by the more “realistic” sticks (modeled after some fighter, presumably, instead of an arcade spaceship?) but am concerned about their ergonomics. Is it easy, for example, to use all the rotary dials and buttons without looking?
The Logitech and Thrustmasters I’ve used were comfortable, at least, if not the most durable things.
When I was shopping for my HOTAS, I don’t think the NXT was out yet, but I may be remembering that wrong. I was comparing the VPK Gunfighter to the Virpil Constellation and was really torn between the two. What pushed me over was the features in the Virpil rudder pedals and throttle setups at the time.
That said, I haven’t looked at their catalog in a long time and they have added a lot of options.
Once the OP selects a HOTAS, the next logical step is to help them pick soldering kit and point them to Leo Bodnar’s site to start them down the path of building their own button boxes and control panels 
FS2024 didn’t have a present for my WinWing Ursa Minor and now I want to do something else rather than set 400 controls that I don’t understand. At least this thing seems to have 400 buttons on it.
The material is ABS plastic which is a really good functional choice. They feel very solid. Definitely made to last. Good ergonomics.
I am sure the Virpil product is going to be better in ways; I know they use more metal for example.
What I like about the VKB’s is everything is functional and solid. There is nothing that is just cosmetic dressing. They are built like a commercial grade tool.
Lots of customization options, they come with alternative, buttons, springs and a seriously deep configuration tool. For example instead of a true throttle the Omni throttle I use is really a second stick, but I have the y axis set with no springs and friction adjusted to taste for my throttle axis. The x axis is still sprung and centered to control horizontal thrust.
There is a nice selection of add on modules for extra buttons, trim wheels, throttle quadrants etc.
Nice. Thanks for the details!
So I picked up a T-Flight HOTAS X off amazon for just $62 (regular $69.99). It’s the older model I believe, and only PC/PS3 compatible (showing its age).
Clearly not a top-of-the-line item, but it feels pretty good for that price. Certainly a far better experience than the Xbox 360 controller I’ve been using. Some reviews complained it was hard to make minute adjustments but it’s much easier with this than the Xbox controller, if only because of the added height on the stick.
I’m having a great time with it. And it was conveniently already fully set up in MSFS 2020, the only adjustment I needed to make was to reverse the throttle direction, otherwise it was fully plug-and-play.
That’s awesome, happy flying!