Flight Stick

F-14 Tomcat Computer Flightstick and HOTAS

Brought to you by Joel Harwood

This is a project for Highway to Hardware, where I am going to design and hopefully manufacture a full HOTAS (Hands on Throttle And Stick) assembly

This project was officially started (it's been a brainworm for like 3 months) on the 11/07/2025, using DD/MM/YYYY format

Friday, 11/07/2025

Github Repository is set up, and research has begun.

This day's focus was on getting the Github repo set up, and adding it to the Hackclub 'Highway to Hardware', then once I completed the repo, I begun working through the steps I laid out in the README. This meant I went through and researched how flightsticks work, which I did by watching videos and reading articles on how people have made their own DIY HOTAS setups. I also asked a question on the r/HotasDIY subreddit about tips on how to make my own flightstick. However, I mainly focused on the creation of flightsticks, so my next session I will focus on the manufacturing of the throttle systems. Here's a list of some things I found: - Most DIY flightsticks use 2 rotary encoders, one on each axis pivot of a gimbal, to read the x/y direction changes of the flightstick. - For the lever triggers on the flightstick, you can use limit switches and springs, or simple buttons for a more quick action press. - Interestingly, for a second 'joystick' on the top of the flightstick, I've seen someone use 4 buttons and springs for a simple input closer to a WASD input than a joystick. - 3D printing all of the parts is definitely possible, but I could also get them properly manufactured, although I probably won't, except for the internal framing, for which I might use metal plating that has been machined, for durability - The processor can be an ESP32 if I want BlueTooth, or an Arduino Pro Micro for a basic USB device Here are the links to the websites/pages I used: - https://ffbeast.github.io/docs/en/joystick_DIY_assembly.html - https://www.reddit.com/r/HotasDIY/comments/1lwy919/new_here_tips_for_creating_a_hotas_setup/ - This is my post - https://www.reddit.com/r/HotasDIY/ - The subreddit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg8l7W0TuPg - A very good video on the creation of Joysticks - https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Bluetooth-or-USB-HOTAS-Game-Controller/ - A helpful tutorial article on the creation of a DIY flightstick - www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-rc98z1Gxc - Here's a yt video that showed some of the parts, including where I say how: a) I can 3D print it, and b) the use of limit switchs, springs, and the use of buttons for the joystick

Time taken - 2.5hrs