MOZA AB6

Written by John Yan on 11/19/2025 for MOB   PC   PS5   SW2   XSX  

MOZA has been killing it with their line of driving peripherals and they’ve recently added to their lineup with a bunch of flying gear as well. A few years ago, they released the AB9, a force feedback flying base that has been well received by those in the flying community. As with their wheel base lineup, MOZA is increasing their line of available flight sim gear with a more affordable offering in the AB6.

The MOZA AB6 is a force feedback flight base capable of up to 6Nm of peak torque. That’s about half of what the AB9 can do at peak, but don’t let that fool you. This base can still deliver very good force feedback even if it is only half as strong as its big brother. It can do a continuous 4.4Nm of torque, which doesn’t sound like much, but it is. Again, this is about half of the output that the AB9 can do, but you’re also looking at a much smaller footprint with the AB6.

Let’s start with the base because this setup does come with a stick as well. The all-metal base houses two servo motors that help deliver that high-quality torque in flight sims and racing games. I say racing games because the AB6 can double as a shifter, which I’ll touch on later. The base measures 188mm by 123mm by 163 mm, a lot smaller than the AB9. So, if you were put off by the size of the AB9, the AB6 might fit your bill a little better here. While the sides and bottom are metal, the top is a hard plastic. I think that’s fine as it helps cut down on the weight and the top shouldn’t get as abused as the sides and bottom would.

Unlike the AB9, the AB6 has eight buttons and two levers giving you some extra controls at your fingertips. For those having smaller space and needing additional controls easily accessible, the AB6 has you covered. Each button has a backlit LED and the colors of all eight can be changed in the MOZA Cockpit software. They have a solid feeling when you press them and a clicky sound when actuated.

For connections, the AB6 features almost the same layout on the back as the AB9. We have the power supply plug, power button, and USB-B port to connect it to your computer. Here though, we have one less RJ11 connector than the AB9 with it housing three instead of four. Other than that one change, the rest are the same between the two.

On the bottom are six M4 holes and four M6 holes for your mounting options. This should offer plenty of flexibility when it comes to securing the AB6 to a place of your choice. And if you don’t have a place to install it, the AB6 comes with a nice solid desk mount. The mount screws into the bottom and clamps onto your desk with two large clamps. MOZA did a pretty good job including this in the package so you don’t have to buy one separately.

The connector for the grip has a metal housing with a PS/2 connector that’s synonymous with the majority of the flight sticks out there. Faux leather with yellow stitching keeps the internals free from dust in the center of the base.

All in all, the base feels very solid and well built. It’s got a heft but isn’t too heavy. And like I said before, if the AB9 was way too big. The AB6 is a lot more compact in size and should fit smaller setups a lot easier.

While the AB9 didn’t come with a stick, the AB6 does and the stick is well put together. The MHG is designed with inspiration from both jet fighters and spacecraft. Four buttons are available with a two-stage trigger at your fingertip. There are three five-way HAT switches giving you four directions and a press to program for. There’s one three-way switch near the right top of the flight stick that’s accessible with your index finger. Finally, an analog HAT switch with button press sits on the dead center of the stick.

It’s made mostly of some plastic composite with the screw collar to attach the base made of metal. On the right side sits a palm rest that you can take off. Removing it lowers the shelf on where your palm can rest if that’s more comfortable for you. It’s a right-handed stick, but I’ll be curious to see if MOZA decides to come out with a left-handed version for those who want to fly spaceships with two sticks, which seems popular in a game like Star Citizen. I would love to have that ability and I think the MHG would be a good choice to have a left-handed option as well.

All the push buttons feel very nice to press. They have a sufficient amount of push back and a nice clicky response when pressed. The trigger is strong and satisfying to press with the second stage having a nice, pronounced feel when the trigger is fully engaged.

For my hands, I did have a slight trouble reaching the top right HAT switch and I had to do a slight adjustment to reach the three-way switch near my index finger. Nothing too drastic, but it’s not a stick where I don’t have to move my hand at all to reach all the controls. That said, nothing was too uncomfortably out of reach.

I do have to mention the button on the upper right HAT on my preproduction unit was very hard to engage. Talking with MOZA, they did identify some quality control issues on some of the pre-production units, and they should be fixed now that it’s been released. Checking other reviewers, I didn’t see anyone mention this issue so I’m positive this is just on my review unit, but I thought I’d mention it as I decided not to assign any function to it when I was testing it as it was very inconsistent when pressed.

The connector for the MHG has a slight give to it so you can pull the cord out a tiny bit in order to plug it into the base. Be careful, though, as the pins are very delicate and I did find myself bending one or two of them while trying to get them in place. Whereas the Thrustmaster Warthog stick had a stationary connector, the MHG’s connector design helps to easily get it plugged in, but I did find myself having a little trouble lining up the pins early on. That said, take it slow and easy and don’t force it in or you’re liable to bend a pin or two.

Once plugged in, the stick gets attached by turning the metal collar to lock it in place. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the MHG does support Z-Axis turning, so for games like Elite Dangerous if you don’t have a set of rudder pedals, twisting the joystick can be the substitute for pedals and allow you to control the yaw of the spaceship. It doesn’t take too much to twist the stick, but the springs are strong enough so you can’t accidentally twist it. That’s to say, the amount of force needed to twist the stick seems optimal in that you are in control and you won’t accidentally twist it if you don’t want to. If you don’t want to be able to rotate the MHG, MOZA does supply some screws that you can put in the stick to lock it in place. I do like the ability to decide whether I want the Z-Axis option or not in the MHG and I do lock it in depending on the type of aircraft I am flying.

After all the setup, I installed the MOZA Cockpit software to set up some of the features of the stick. You’re given a ton of options to adjust how you want the stick to feel. There’s presets for some aircraft, which you can use and then do some more fine tune adjustments to your liking. I am really happy to see all the options available to adjust things such as maximum torque output, spring strength, damper, inertia, friction and intensity to name a few. There’s settings to appease both beginners and experienced pilots alike. Want to adjust how the X-Axis and Y-Axis feel as you move the stick from certain points? No problem.

It’s here where you can also set up the flightstick installed as well. You get a nice visual representation of the stick you have installed along with all the buttons, HATs, and switches that are available. The MHG does have some lights on it that you can tune to your visual preference, which can be done in the Cockpit software. It can be overwhelming with the amount of things you can adjust, tweak, and play around with. That said, just take your time if you’re a beginner and you’ll get through it. As with learning a new sim, patience is key and it might take more than a few tries to get the stick and base just the way you like it.

Now, the big selling point is the force feedback and here it’s still a little murky on software support. For example, games like Elite Dangerous don't have any force feedback support, but you can use the AB6 to fly in the game no problem. You just won’t feel anything from the game. While Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 doesn’t as well, the Cockpit software does hook into the game and reads the telemetry data from it and translates that to force feedback that the AB6 can replicate. The Cockpit software does let you adjust the telemetry data that you want enabled as well as letting you adjust the intensity of said force replicated.

You can see what games the AB6 supports with force feedback and the list consists of most of the popular flight sims out there. Just make sure to set up the game in the Cockpit software with the right version of the game. For example, I have a copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and the Cockpit allows for setting up either the Steam or Xbox version. Keep in mind that depending on the version will determine the installation location so if you don’t see it working, double check you have the right version selected and all the fields filled in correctly.

So after everything was installed, I fired up Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Elite Dangerous. I’ll start with Elite Dangerous first since it’s a more simple experience with the AB6 and MHG. As I said earlier, no force feedback is available with this game, but I was able to set up the stick easily in the settings. I did have to calibrate the Z-Axis which kept interfering with my control assignments, but after all was said and done, I was flying in the darkness of space.

Control wise, the AB6 and MHG provided tight and accurate controls on my spaceship. Rolling and pitching were responsive and I made the tension and springs a little lighter than the default settings as I like a more responsive ship with less work to do when flying around in space. Movement on both the X and Y-Axis was accurate. Flying around asteroids and dogfighting, I always felt I was in control and I didn’t experience any weird flying behavior. Having the rotating Z-Axis to yaw was also nice coming from a Thrustmaster Warthog where there wasn’t that ability at all. The buttons were responsive as well, allowing me to fire missiles, switch focus, and navigate through my system menus using the HATs with ease.

Switching over to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, I picked some planes that I thought would produce the best effects. For my testing, I decided to use prop planes mostly that were smaller in size.

As my plane was sitting on the runway with the propellers spinning, the MHG shook with slight vibrations mimicking the engine shaking. It was really interesting to see the joystick move, having not had a force feedback joystick since the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2. As I increased the throttle, the flight stick vibrated faster mimicking the increased speed and intensity of the engine revving up.

I took off and was presented with the feeling of lighter tension as I flew straight and up. It’s only when I decided to really try and fight the aircraft by doing faster rolls that I felt the stick push back more against me, simulating the increased wind force fighting back. Having these sensations come through the flight stick is really immersive and I can tell you, it’s hard to go back to non-force feedback controllers after this. The level of feedback you get from feeling your plane in certain situations does help you get to know what’s happening without having to just rely on what you see on the screen. Feeling it as well as seeing the visual indicators makes for a much more satisfying flying experience.

Trying to do some stalling, I felt the stick shimmy and shake as my power was cut and my plane began to drop out of control. After getting my plane back on course, I decided to try a hard landing on a runway. I came in hot and at a steeper angle than normal, which brought my plane down quickly and intensely contacting the pavement. The stick jerked quickly to simulate the wheels meeting the ground at a much more stronger force than usual. The improved amount of immersion with a force feedback flight stick is pretty significant and combined with a VR headset, it’s just a truly unique and rewarding experience flying planes.

Compatibility with other flight sticks seems good. While I don’t have a lot of sticks to test, I did have a Thrustmaster Warthog stick that I was able to plug into the AB6 and have it worked flawlessly. By the way, you can really tell the difference between the included MHG flight stick, which is mostly plastic and an all metal Thrustmaster Warthog stick. Especially the weight difference between the two, the Warthog just feels like a solid piece of metal in the hand. That said, if you have some other sticks in your possession, you might be able to use them with the AB6 base and experience force feedback in an arrangement that you might not have previously.

The AB6 doesn’t have to just be a base for a flight stick though. With a push of a button, you can turn it into an active shifter for racing and car games. Set up the shifting pattern or turn it into a sequential shifter and pop on a shift knob. I 3D printed one that was made for the AB9 base and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. The software lets you set up various H patterns that you can shift into. I found the five-gear one to be much easier to shift with than the 6 or 7 gear patterns. I am not a seasoned race car driver though so others might find the patterns to not be a problem to get into the higher gears.

Is it a good replacement for dedicated shifters with H pattern plates on top to guide the shifter? As one who is a casual racer, I found it to be a great replacement. In my current chair setup where I currently have flight stick on my right, a throttle on my left, and a wheel in front of me so that I can experience multiple types of sims, the ability to switch the AB6 into a shifter and swap out the stick for a knob really cuts down on the hardware I need to have installed to enjoy a wide arrangement of sims. MOZA has continued to improve the functionality of the AB6 and AB9 as a shifter so I expect more refinements and improvements to come. As it stands right now, I have removed my old Logitech shifter and will be using the AB6 in this mode when I’m not flying.

What’s really impressive is the $399 price. This entire package is just a steal for flight sim players. To include a flight stick, desk attachment, and the ability to use it as an active shifter, the AB6 is just a complete package at that price point. You won’t find a better deal for a setup like this. Whether you’ve got a complete setup or just starting out in this area, the AB6 has all you need to experience immersive flight sims with plenty of controls at your fingertips. MOZA has really hit it out of the park.