I remember it like it was yesterday. US Rapid Deployment forces were advancing to capture the Dalian Plant nuclear facility and force disruptions to the electrical grid in northern China. Elements of the Second Army of the People’s Republic of China had moved forward to serve as an improvised defensive force. This location was of vital strategic importance to both sides, for a major reduction of the generating capacity of the PLA forces would allow rapid consolidation of US units dispersed throughout this vast region. I had taken up a defensive position at the main entrance where I could use the TOW missile system to pick off unwary enemy tanks and troops. With my back more or less protected by troops defending the flag, I felt nearly invulnerable. “Nearly” was, of course, the operative word. What I had failed to consider was the airborne threat of enemy gunship helicopters, and I paid for that neglect rather spectacularly as I was blown to bits by an air-to-ground rocket. It was at that moment that I decided the role of infantry grunt was not for me. No, at that moment I swore that I would get out of the trenches and into the cockpit of one of those aerial tanks.

That, as you can imagine, was easier said than done. It wasn’t too difficult to get a helicopter to attempt to train myself on, but let’s just say that the early results were anything but promising. The keyboard/mouse control setup was simply more than I could handle, and the self-immolating wreck was the rule rather than the exception. It was very difficult to control altitude using the keyboard for the helicopter’s collective, and the mouse made for an overly responsive and difficult to control cyclic. Maybe the life of a grunt wasn’t so bad after all!

Recent events encouraged me to try again, though. The clarion call of the whopping rotors of the overhead threat was still calling to me, and when offered the opportunity to try out Saitek’s new Aviator joystick, my first thought was to use the Battlefield 2 helicopters as the measure of its worth. I had tried other joysticks, most notably the Saitek X45. The X45 is a fine joystick, mind you, but there were a couple of problems with it with regards to the BF2 choppers. First, the breakout force around the centering spring was too strong for the highly responsive choppers. The choppers scream for a very sensitive joystick around the center, and with the heavy breakout forces of the X45 it was a constant battle against over-controlling. The second issue was the separate throttle: I simply didn’t have enough hands to hold everything solidly in place. Bungee cords helped hold the throttle to the desk, but I still needed two hands to hold the bulky joystick.


The Aviator has the benefit of having much lighter centering force and the throttle control right there on the base of the joystick. This configuration allows for comfortable two-hand control without the need to strap pieces-parts down. As an additional bonus, the Z-axis twist of the joystick provides a good way to control the tail rotor on the choppers. The Aviator also includes four two-position toggle switches, two triggers (one for the index finger, and one under a protective cover to prevent accidental firing), two thumb buttons on the top of the stick, and a hatswitch. The throttle control was interesting in that it was actually two slider control...