Not long ago CH added a new stick to their lineup. Their best selling Flightstick Pro, once king of the heap, now has a worthy alternate. The Combatstick enters securely as a mid-range model, offering two four way hats, five buttons, a trigger, and a throttle wheel (as on the CH Flightstick & Flightstick PRO).

To use both hats and all buttons and triggers the CH F16 Combatstick provides, your game or sim must support either the CH Virtual Pilot Pro or the Combatstick directly. Only in this way will all functions be enabled. The Combatstick also works well as a CH Flightstick PRO, though you will only have use of four buttons, one hat switch, and the throttle wheel.

It doesn't seem there are any games yet that support the stick natively, although both EF2000 and Marine Fighters provide emulation as a CH Flightstick Pro. Not that it matters: there are no problems with this arrangement. MechWarrior II's Ghost Bear Legacy expansion offers support for the VP Pro, making the Combatstick's 14 functions fully operational in this mode. MW2 for DOS supports the VP Pro with the help of a patch from Activision.

Whenever support for the VP Pro is lacking, the CH Flightstick PRO can be chosen, and this also works great. Until such time as Microsoft releases more drivers for WIN95, the only stick that Win95 will properly utilize is their own Sidewinder 3D Pro. (C'mon Bill, I thought you were on our side!)

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Rudders work fine with the Combatstick; no reason they shouldn't. The stick feels like a Flightstick Pro, which means it feels a bit weaker than higher end sticks, but its durability has already been proven, so no cause to worry. Going from a TM FLCS to this stick is really a minor change; but after having used the TM F22 Pro for a few weeks the Combatstick feels wobbly. But then, there are many people who find the semi-trailer quality springs in the F22 a bit of overkill...

Like all new CH products, the CH Combatstick comes with a three year warranty. CH still reigns in this regard since Suncom and Thrustmaster offer only one year warranties. Both CH and Thrustmaster have awesome tech support.

SUMMARY

It seems that the Combatstick is intended to replace the aging Flightstick PRO, and as such its a nice change. Its ability to emulate the VP Pro as well as the Flightstick PRO make it compatible with virtually all PC sims. CH has covered their bases in producing another good stick at a VERY reasonable price!