by Tim "Flyboy" Henderson

  So you aren't ready for a separate stick and throttle? Your wife thinks you should spend that extra money on HER instead??

In the old days your choices were greatly limited. You might have gone with the Thrustmaster Millenium, or maybe you could have found a really sweet deal on the Microsoft Sidewinder.

These days your choices are still limited, but you won't have to spend as much, and you will get a single stick solution with throttle and rudder, not to mention programmability! Saitek, CH, or Logitech will be your required direction.

The Wingman Extreme Digital is a great option. When I built a second system for my kids I was looking for a simple and elegant solution, and I found it in the Wingman Extreme Digital. This is a beauty for around $45 US at retail. Let's have a look at the feature list:

• 7 Programmable buttons
• Rapid fire trigger
• Twist handle
• Twist handle lock
• Throttle
• USB or Gameport connection
• 8 way hat switch
• Heavy base with no-slip rubber feet

This is a nice looking unit, clean and lean and solid to boot! The heft surprised me initially, and the base is molded from a heavy gray plastic. But there must be some kind of metal inside, or else this is a graphite composite, because it is way heavier than ordinary plastic.

Flexible black rubber masks the connection of the stick to the base, and to add that high tech look, Logitech gave a silver color to the 5 buttons on the top. Finally, they included translucent blue plastic to set off the hat switch and the Logitech logo which is on the base.

You'll appreciate the heft the first time you use the stick. My son is a typical eleven year old sim junkie (er, is there such a thing?) and he was using the WE Digital in Panzer Elite and then WW2 Fighters. The heft helps to keep the stick on the desk.

Click to continue

The Subjective Gig

Personally, I am hefting Thrustmaster gear 75% of the time, except when flying EAW or MiG Alley, when I switch to the Logitech Wingman Force. What impressed me the most about the WE Digital was it's solid feel in use. This stick is unusually stiff for a single stick solution. The resistance in use greatly assists with precision control in flight, without being so stiff that it will induce fatigue, as is the case with my F22 Pro. The F22 Pro is really not usable for extended periods of time in a WWII sim.

Install, Function and Performance

As with all Logitech devices, you install the Profiler software and away you go. In this case, I connected as a USB device on my AMD 600, and voila! I was up and running in minutes. Programming is simple and easy also. The Wingman software has evolved nicely and is easy to use.

Layout of the buttons on the WE Digital is predictable. Two of the seven buttons are located on the base of the joystick at top left. The remaining five, including the trigger, are on the stick itself.

This layout allows access to four of the buttons with your right thumb. These four buttons are divided into pairs, with two on either side of the hat. This is a really nice layout, and I used them for changing weapons in WW2 Fighters, and for radar mode and weapon changing in USAF.

The twist handle is also very satisfying. I previously got used to this function on the Saitek Cyborg, and once you actually become accustomed to it, it's quite nice. The twist handle provides rudder function, and I found it quite adequate in WW2 Fighters as well as in MiG Alley. I'm not ready to give up my rudder pedals yet, however!

If you are like me, don't sweat it. Logitech has included a handle locking mechanism. A plastic screw located at the base of the stick can be adjusted to lock the handle in place. Simple and effective.

SUMMARY

A solid device for the do-it-all crowd. This is perhaps one of the best devices Logitech has ever made, ranking up there with the Wingman Force. It begs the question of why anyone would look elsewhere for this type of device. Don't try to save the $12 and buy the Wingman Attack: this stick has it all and does it all well. A great value and a real winner from Logitech!

For the latest software (v.3.30, 5.4 MB) check out WingmanTeam.

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