Curiosity got the better of me, and I emailed them a couple times with questions. I also posted this over at simhq, but I thought I'd post it here too since there was a thread discussing the paccus hawk.
SO... they've shown extremely good communication, taking my questions seriously and giving full answers to them.
I spoke with Bart Sikkens via email.
(note - I'm not in any way affiliated with them, I just wanted some info, and thought I'd share it with you guys!)
Some of what they said (paraphrased by me):
Quote:
They are currently creating their first batch of joysticks (paccus hawk), which is aimed at universities and institutes. They will have this batch done by the end of the year, after which they will work on updating the website. They plan on sending a few sticks out to get reviews (to universities and magazines). The target market for the hawk is not the simulation crowd - which explains its cost. It's mainly targeted for industrial use (though it could be used for flight simulation). There is no dead band or play in the motion of the stick and the movement is almost without friction. It does not have the "ratcheting" feel of the g940. It also has no center notch, though a "spring" function can be created using the force feedback. Helicopter pilots said it really felt like the real thing. The grip communicates with the base using a microprocessor, so it would be easy to add new functions/buttons to the grip, or switch out the grip altogether. They have the hawk, which is meant for desk mounted applications, but will also have a floor mounted option.
Some of their long term goals are to create high end quality sticks for simulation consumer products. These would not be priced like the g940, they would not be competing with that market - theirs would be much higher quality, and higher priced - but MUCH more reasonably priced then the paccus hawk. They would allow users to create custom grips with an easy way to interface it to the base (such as USB). They would possibly make their own grips (they've already experimented with an F16 replica) and eventually throttles/etc. These are long term goals, and it's really too early to give price estimates or time estimates.
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If anyone wants I suppose I could post the actual email response - but this gets to the heart of the matter much faster
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-Forged