Best products from r/Warthunder

Old 666 Was probably one of the most Aircraft of WW2, and not only that but her crew was the most decorated of any in the war. Jay Zeamer (the absolute fucking madlad of a pilot) received the Medal of Honor. The Bombardier Joe Sarnoski who survived a 20mm cannon shell detonating in the Nose of the aircraft, and while bleeding profusely he crawled back to his guns, and downed a Twin Engined Dinah Recon Plane the Japanese jerry rigged a Cannon to, was awarded the Medal of Honor as well, Posthumously. The entire crew received The Silver star if I’m not mistaken. There’s so much more I could share which instead I will spare you from, and instead steer you towards the book. If you are interested, it’s titled Lucky 666.

Here’s the link to the book btw: https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-666-Impossible-Bob-Drury/dp/1476774854

(Sorry but I fucking love history and this mission might just be my favorite tale from the USAAF in the South Pacific.)

Actually the front of this turret is 152mm of armour with several sections of the internal mantlet being another 100mm's (similar to the Challenger in WT however it's still missing a lot of plates...).

That and it is (if facing a target directly) slightly angled at around 15 degrees making it effectively more closer to 160 to 170mm~ everywhere but the vertical middle, making it a more annoying target then a Black Prince with you having to try to shoot for it's internal mantlet frontally between the slit to try and hit the ~100mm area. The sides of the turret isn't 76

[BEFORE POST EDIT: See annotation at the bottom]

The hull is 101mm of armour with 12.7mm of armour right behind it so it is at least on par with the Tiger I's armour with the angled parts being closer to ~120mm effective armour with the current angling calculations roughly and the secondary plate will take some shrapnel away from AP rounds since that's how WT's armour works apparently so using APCR on this would be a nightmare.

This being said, here is where it sits in terms of armour for the hull...

• Churchill mk III (BR 4.0) has weaker hull armour.
  
• Churchill mk VIII (BR 4.7) has stronger hull armour.
  
• Black Prince (BR 6.0) has stronger hull armour.
  
• Centurion (BR 5.7) has stronger hull armour. [however the side armour is so thin you can't angle]
  
• KV-1 ZiS-5 (BR 4.3) has weaker hull armour.
  
• IS-1(IS-85) (BR 5.3) has similar hull armour, thicker at the driver area but is a 'piked' design, can't angle.
  
• Tiger 1 (BR 5.7) slightly weaker hull armour, doesn't have the 12.7mm plate behind.
  
  in terms of turret...
  
  
• Churchill mk III (BR 4.0) has weaker turret armour.
  
• Churchill mk VIII (BR 4.7) has ~slightly weaker turret armour.
  
• Black Prince (BR 6.0) has ~slightly weaker turret armour.
  
• Centurion (BR 5.7) has weaker turret armour.
  
• KV-1 ZiS-5 (BR 4.3) has weaker turret armour.
  
• IS-1(IS-85) (BR 5.3) has weaker turret armour.
  
• Tiger 1 (BR 5.7) has weaker turret armour, however it has a lot of geometry to it that can absorb shots into oblivion which is actually the design reasoning from memory for it to be like that.
  
  It is also armed with the 17pdr and I believe due to the fact it was intended to come out after the Challenger it would receive APDS for two main reasons;
  
  

1. being the fact it would've saw service very late into the war and all other vehicles (besides Tortoise and Avenger) has APDS in it's time period for Britainn.
   
2. the TOG II* was intended to have the heaviest firepower on a turret mount at the time, with some documents claiming it did have a 27pdr mounted before switching back to a 17pdr. While provisioned documents had everything from prototype 75mm "longs" to 37pdr's intended to be mounted. Not that I am asking for a 37pdr TOG (though a 27pdr TOG premium if we get more info won't be bad...) but it's just the general idea that this vehicle is meant to be heavy in firepower.
   
   That being said, the list of British tanks with APDS in ~Rank 3 are...
   
   

• Comet (BR 5.3), 77mm HV.
  
• Challenger (BR 5.3), 17pdr.
  
• Centurion 1 (BR 5.7), 17pdr.
  
• Black Prince (BR 6.0), 17pdr.
  
  Looking at this, we can imagine that with the armour similar to some rank 3 vehicles (Tiger, IS-1, etc) with a cannon that with APDS appears inn a similar BR range as just listed above, we can imagine the tank around BR ~5.3 to ~5.7.
  
  The only cons of the design is speed and size, the size makes it easy to spot especially from air so beware of CAS since UK doesn't have any super SPAA's like other nations (Germany) at the current moment and its speed is quiet slow...
  
  HOWEVER the TOG 2 had several engine tests and/or provisions as well as super chargers from memory able to increase the horsepower up to ~1000 hp, now that isn't too spectacular as we have tanks with far higher, however compared to Rank 3 heavy tanks it would have the highest... not that it would be the fastest mind you due to the tonnage, but it can be faster than the snails pace we had for the pilot version. We can assume that Gaijin would most likely choose the snail pace or one of the engines around 600 hp.
  
  The most likely speed we would see it at if Gaijin doesn't want it to be faster is 13.7 km/h. Not that bad if you are a Black Prince and Tortoise fanatic but it isn't exactly the speed of lightning either...
  
  A huge pro though is the TOG 2 can accelerate quickly, climb steep inclines, can turn quite well even in the thickest of mud, in fact in everything but speed it is considered the most mobile tank of WWII in testing as it is the only tank to pass every test and then extras. So the TOG won't be a fast tank but similar to the Black Prince it'll be hard not to have it go max speed the entire time you are going to battle.
  
  though so should the BP and Churchill and other infantry and cruiser tanks of the British.
  
  *my overall verdict is that I would like to see the Standard TOG II at BR 5.3 to 5.7 British as there is a huge void of heavy tanks both in reality and in WT that would be 'superior to the Churchill VII' but weaker than a Caernarvon to fit in the BR 4.7 to 6.7 gap, a huge problem since UK only has 2 tank lines instead of the 3-4 other nations do. It may not be the easiest tank to drive but I heavily enjoyed the Black Prince and her play style so a similar tank doesn't turn me off!**
  
  
• [Armour annotation]
  
  Okay, from my understanding we can have anywhere from 114mm of armour + 12.7mm too 152mm of armour on the hull depending on what TOG II we get in WT as the design has changed a bit from start to end. So the TOG II can end up as a tank with similar to slightly superior armour to the Black Prince instead of what I mentioned before and potentially anywhere between.
  
  -----------------------------------------------------------
  
  Tl;DR
  -----
  
  
  TOG 2 has better armour then known in public domain, with 152mm on the turret front and anywhere between 114mm too 152mm on the hull. though I am leaning on having 114mm. The TOG 2's gun isn't bad and there is a slight chance for a 27pdr armed TOG II. The Tank may be slow but it won't be slowed down as it has good traction, turn time, acceleration, etc.... however we may have the possibility to have a faster TOG II that will go above 13km/h similar to how we have a Tiger II Sla... that or have that as a premium version at .3 BR higher.
  
  EDIT
  
  The driver port area is 6" thick (152mm) and some areas around it, meaning the easiest place to hit that isn't angled will be a geometrical mess of thicknesses with most being 152mm, so it'll be pretty resistant overall to APCR and early German 75mm's.
  
  --------------
  
  Source^(...sauce?)
  -----
  
  Mostly a combination of the The Tanks of TOG: The work, designs, and tanks of the Special Vehicle Development Committee in World War II, a book written by Andrew Hills recently and me talking to Andrew Hills myself of which I have seen more primary documents scanned of the TOG then I have seen for any other tank. World of Tanks (surprisingly enough) butchered the TOG II, and David Fletcher does show a strong personal bias against the Tank which is why tank designs like the TOG 3 and 4, the TD's, etc of the TOG isn't heard of yet in the major public. It would be obvious to anyone who has heard him talk about the TOG when you realize the tank has been in development for a very long time with new innovations every so and so to the point that some produced British tanks borrowed them and the fact David has more praise for the Valiant over the TOG...
  
  If you want I can start linking the books sources themselves for certain sections though keep in mind that book is a few hundred pages long and I am not exactly the fastest reader out there.

It might be a bit expected, but I really recommend the extreme 3d pro.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Extreme-Joystick-Silver-Black/dp/B00009OY9U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408298688&sr=8-1&keywords=extreme+3d+pro

It has a throttle, 12 buttons (I'm pretty sure you won't ever need more), you can control the view with your thumb (There is a little thumbstick on the top of the stick) and from what I have heard it is just a very good stick.

If you buy this you shouldn't need more.

IIRC even PhlyDaily uses/used this stick.

---

EDIT

Yep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W5e8pj0wHE&channel=PhlyDaily

Though it seems like he still uses headtracking and doesn't use the 6 buttons on the side but instead he uses his keyboard.

---

You can get it for €45-€50 and on Amazon for $32.

If you really want a seperate throttle stick, you can get the Thrustmaster Flight Hotas X.

http://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-Flight-Hotas-Flight-Playstation-3/dp/B001CXYMFS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408299061&sr=8-1&keywords=Thrustmaster+Flight+Hotas+X

It costs pretty much the same (Though the Logitech extreme 3d pro is waaaay cheaper on Amazon for some reason) but it doesn't have the same thumbstick to control the view, so it would require you to use the keyboard or headtracking.

You'll want to use something other than the built in webcam you have. The quality of tracking you'll get is dependent on your camera's frames per second and a smaller amount on it's resolution. Currently the best camera I know of is a PS3 Eye. It can pull off 60+ fps at 640x480 which will give you amazing performance. Be aware that there are two different lenses on them and only one of them can have the IR filter removed. The camera itself can be picked up used for about $9 US.

After that you'll need a point model. This is one I built for a friend that runs off 2 AAA batteries. Another option is to power by USB but the wiring comes out different and you'll want to add a fuse to it so you don't accidentally fry your motherboard. They can be built out of anything you can get your hands on. If you want some inspiration you can check the three point models from here. Bic pen tubes seem to be very popular as the LED can sit at the end and the wiring goes in the tube. Personally I build mine out of this stuff. As for the LEDs you can either find ones that have a very high viewing angle (best I ever found here) or add a diffuser to the end. I would highly recommend using a diffuser as the LEDs will cause a huge bloom when aimed directly at the camera without them. The plastic I use to build mine happens to make an exceptional diffuser.

For the software you already have one of the two options. FaceTrackNoIR, the one I use, or you can use the successor to it OpenTrack. I use FaceTrack because it seems to be a bit quicker. For both you'll end up using the built in point tracker.

As for performance it works very well. Here is a video of me using it.

nonononono dont use super glue! What you need is cement glue, I use and recommend Tamiya. I've never used super glue on plastic models so Im not sure what will happen, but play it safe and use the stuff that was designed for these models.

Edit: look to see if there are any hobby stores near you, they most likely can give you advice, and most likely would stock the correct paints and glues

here's my airfix Hurricane mkII that was my first serious build, It's old and I lost the canopy, but I still like it :) Model making can be very fun, those are some nice kits, enjoy them

"Fighter jocks are a vocal lot -- especially when it comes to the pros and cons of their particular steed of the moment. The "Jug", alias P-47, had many devoteees, but there were a few malcontents. One thing everyone agreed on: it was big and heavy."

Mods keep deleting them, so I'm making this last submission a giant blowout of Bob Stevens comics that I hope you'll all enjoy:

 

Bob Stevens, Nov. 1972:
"New second Johns thought here a sentence of doom --
Not many runways then had enough room.
But once in the air, with a pair of fans turning,
Brother, this baby just kept on churning..."

 

Bob Stevens, Nov. 1975:
""Silence is golden" according to an early Swiss inscription. Silence is also mandatory in Air Force formations from home base to the target (the enemy had ears, too). This is an old tale and it could have happened -- and near Swiss territory, for that matter."

 

Bob Stevens, Sept. 1980:
""Are you there, Moriarity?"
Situation: RAF crew training in Canberra (USAF version: B-57). The intercom link between pilot -- up front -- and navigator's compartment is fuzzy, at best. We join the crew climbing out on a cross country..."

 

Bob Stevens, Dec. 1984:
"Crews of cargo/transport birds can get pretty bored on long hauls. Fiendish scenarios like the one depicted below kill time between reporting points... (Note: this routine calls for a john in the rear, like the ol' C-46's and 47's)"

 

Bob Stevens, Mar. 1985:
"We heard this story after WW II "as gospel" from several sources. We'll admit it sure sounds far out, but even if fabricated, it still makes quite a tale."

 

Bob Stevens, May 1986:
"Question: Can you identify the two aircraft involved in the last dogfight in Europe during WW II? Answer: An unarmed L-4 Cub and an armed (well, sort of...) German Fieseler "Storch" German observation plane."

 

Bob Stevens, Apr. 1987:
"It was called "the forgotten war", a "U.N. police action", and a lot of unprintable things. Fact is, teh Korean conflict (1950-53) clobbered about the same number of people in 3 yeras as 'Nam did in 12 plus. In this dirty, miserable war, jet combat came of age."

 

Bob Stevens, Jan. 1989:
"It has been my great privilege and honor to draw this feature for 25 years. It seems appropriate to look back at four reprints representing distinct periods in AAF/USAF history that we've shared during the past quarter century."

 
 

There's many more of course - how to BS your way out of getting disciplined for a gear up landing, more dirty tricks in the T-33, and the never ending rivalry between fighter and bomber groups (culminating in a B-17 from the 91st dropping a half ton of horse manure on the 78th during their dress parade).

Everything I've posted is from the Bob Stevens book "There I Was..." 25 Years which you can get on Amazon shipped for under 5 bucks - if you're a fan of warbirds and military aviation, it's a must-have.

Honestly? Take a break, maybe play some other games. IL-2 1946 and IL-2 Cliffs of Dover are cheap and good. DCS modules aren't cheap, but the quality is amazing.

Take some of that cash that you'd be pumping into the game, get a good entry-level flightstick and make your own headtracker. Spend time flying in IL-2 and DCS, then if you still feel like you want to play WT, hop back in and try sim battles.

The sim experience is radically different. It would not be an understatement to say that it almost plays like a different game entirely.

The most important maintenance of any computer (so be it pc,laptop or dare i say mac) is keeping it dust free as possible. And yes every 2 years change the thermal compound to keep it decent (could do every year if you want but not needed, average lifetime of most compounds is 2 years).

For keeping it dust free try to invest in either canned air (not ideal as it still brings moisture with it sometimes) or a small electric compressor like This.

Wow, thank you for such kind words! And thank you for sharing my book trailer. You can get this book at
Fonthill Media: http://fonthillmedia.com/epages/a72b332e-5c82-4e84-ad34-4c5316ee7a6b.sf/en_GB/?ObjectID=15059497

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lavochkin-Fighters-Second-World-War/dp/1781555141

Battle of Moscow historical film: https://youtu.be/9GQQOaOzBIg?list=PLI3O7kuJYvFiID_YjJD98RWoZd3mkS79z

Thank you for showing such interest!

Well I can't comment on that mouse itself so if my comment is just useless information that's all good, but this is the mouse I got and it works great.

It has a disc and it's own software so you can program 4 sensitivity settings and the 5 side buttons. I have copy, paste, forward, back, and double click macroed to the thumb keys, and use 3 of the 4 (the ones you don't use lock off so you don't accidentally switch to them, very handy) sensitivity settings; 1 quick for browsing, 1 slow for general play, and 1 super slow for fine aiming at extreme range. The side buttons are all mapped differently for different games, I use them for changing sight elevation and dropping bombs or rockets in warthunder, but they're super useful in other games, for example, zooming in and out in arma and using equipment in Siege. It's also RGB and has, again, color change settings, though those are somewhat limited. It's wired so that can be a hassle, but I just have a clip holding the wire off of my steelseries XL mousepad and it only gets in the way when I'm plugging something new in or working on something on my desk.

And it was only 30 bucks!

The only problem is that occasionally if I leave my pc for too long, I have to unplug/replug in the mouse, but that's not a huge hassle and it's like once a week maybe that it happens. Never a problem in game. This is likely a problem with my old USB ports since they've seen quite a lot of use, so it might not even be a problem at all.

Depends on what gamemode you are playing. There are three, and they are all very different.

To me what it boils down to is that the mouse if much more precise, with laserlike aiming. The joystick has better movement control, and the things you can do with your plane are amazing.
You can use mouse, but I personally recommend playing with a joystick in Realistic and Simulator. Think of it as arcade without a lead indicator and more realistic plane movement.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Extreme-Joystick-Silver-Black/dp/B00009OY9U Is the joystick I use, you may be able to find it cheaper elsewhere but I don't know.

Picked this up at Barnes and Noble few weeks ago for $11 on sale;

http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-World-War-Aviation-Factfile/dp/078582958X

Great book with info, diagrams, stats, etc. Nice coffee like table book.

Logitech 3D Pro, fantastic joystick that lasts a LONG time compared to other ones and its only $30.

I play exclusively in FRB only and some if my clan mates use this joystick to fly. They've had it since it was first released and its endured BF2, Arma, DCS, and now Warthunder. If you want a more advanced joystick you can get the X52 pro, you can get those new but it will cost a lot more.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00009OY9U

Hope this helps!

There's a keyboard/mouse player around here that routinely posts screenshots where's he's up like 10-0 in a sim EC match, so it's definitely possible to play with no equipment investment. Once you're hooked you'll never go back.

That said, if you come to like sim, I highly recommend picking up any crappy joystick, e.g. this $25 logitech, and use your mouse in your left hand to look around. I started with that exact combo and it's totally workable. P.S. start with the spitfire line. Trust me.

I fly with a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, no headtracking. I do just fine in FRB and HB. It is a fairly cheap joystick, around $25, but mine has lasted 3 years just fine. Here is an Amazon link.

I do feel that a head-tracking solution would help with my FRB setup, but I'm not sure about rudder pedals. The twist stick on the JS works fine for me.

Unsung Eagles - This isn't specifically about fighter pilots, more about the pilots who never got recognition, or those that performed roles that were vital to the war effort, but were never covered. For instance, one chapter is about a demonstration pilot who was in charge of flying stateside for friends and family of soldiers as well as soldiers at home to demonstrate our air power and boost morale. Another is about a P-47 pilot who every day, all day, patrolled the English channel at low level looking for downed pilots. It's a fantastic read.

The First Team - This is a more academic book about the first carrier naval conflicts in the Pacific up to and including the Battle of Midway. It's a great non-fiction read if you're looking to become more knowledgeable on air combat. It can get dry (like some pages just listing who died, and charts on casualties), but they're easily skippable.

The First and the Last - Haven't actually read this, but it comes highly recommended and is next on my list after Stuka Pilot (listed below).


I also second everything that /u/Redlyr said.

I got an amazing one off of amazon for $30 and it works amazing with my Xbox. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078X7V6Q2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

T-Flight Hotas X for 40-50$ is pretty sweet too (comes with separate thrust control). Just did an extensive Google-search, I'd now also rather recommend the T.16000M, as the TFlight seems to have a rather big (and varying) deadzone, while the T.16000M is more durable (magnetic centering) and more precise coming with additional software for fine tuning.

I agree with /u/FoShizzle01. This is perhaps the most common joystick used in this game.. and only $30!

I tried playing with the ps4 controller and it felt like I didn't have enough control to make accurate shots.
The keyboard/mouse should do you just fine once you get used to it though!

I have this book: http://www.amazon.com/Aircraft-World-Aviation-Factfile-Chartwell/dp/078582958X

I really like it, but like the reviews below say there are some inconsistencies and the descriptions about the aircraft aren't too extensive. Nevertheless it is still a really interesting read about all the aircraft.

Keep in mind that with a Warthog you'll need some way to control the rudder as it doesn't have twist... That point and the high price tag make myself go for a CH products Fighterstick+Pedals. They look old but works very well at least for me (the joystick has very little centering force and so it's very smooth). Warthog is better suited for jets IMHO...

Looks good, except it looks like the stick does not have much wiggle room

personaly i would suggest Logitech Extreme 3D Pro(it does have the throttle at the base) sadly it does cost 2.5-3x as much in the UK on amazon(you should be able to find a better deal somewhere else), so if you don't want to spend that much that one should be good

Thrustmaster T-flight. You can certainly find a better price than that. It's a good, reliable, and cheap HOTAS and it'll let you know if you want to continue on to a more expensive model.

Logitech Extreme 3d Pro is widely regarded as a great starter stick. Having played with it myself, it's definitely a pretty solid stick and I use it with War Thunder, DCS, and Arma.

One "flaw" that should be pointed out is that this stick will center itself when you let go; this can be good or bad depending on your personal preference and if your plane has trim controls for all control surfaces.

Probably a good and cheap choice for beginners:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00009OY9U?pc_redir=T1&qid=1333913424&s=videogames&sr=1-2

The HOTAS Joysticks (one throttle on the left hand, stick on the right) start at $100 and they can go up to $450, the pedals uo to $300 extra. But I dont think that you wanna buy that in the future :D

Edit: Found a HOTAS for $50, not bad:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001CXYMFS/ref=pd_aw_sbs_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41puaPbeDOL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C89_&refRID=QDEM82NFJ3G09Z9PV2PE

I use the Hotas X, its a pretty good joystick. You can also find it on Amazon a bit cheaper

http://www.amazon.com/Flying-Tigers-Chennault-Volunteers-1941-1942-ebook/dp/B003V1WV7U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1408964538&sr=8-3&keywords=chennault+tigers

Great book, as well as

http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Sky-Air-South-Pacific-ebook/dp/B001ELJY6U/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1408964574&sr=8-5&keywords=fire+in+the+sky


EDIT : forgot this one to http://www.amazon.com/Baa-Black-Sheep-Gregory-Boyington-ebook/dp/B00DXKJ5GE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408964744&sr=8-1&keywords=baa+baa+black+sheep

The best part is that it only has positive reviews.

We really have to jump on it and tell people that it is full of errors and Wiki/Website copied text

Thanks. Looking for other funny business...

This is a good value AND its a HOTAS setup

Get yourself a track hat https://trackhat.org/
And a joystick https://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-Flight-Hotas-Flight-Stick-PC/dp/B001CXYMFS/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1549337854&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=joystick+pc&dpPl=1&dpID=41nUrhFH1ML&ref=plSrch

Now play sim and pretty much have the same issues except you'll assume you just missed him since it's harder to see.

> B-24 Mitchell

This book belongs to 80s and I noticed that too. =D

Amazon link

Hey mate, I live in Denmark, and I bought mine 4-5 years back from amazon, it's still pretty cheap on there.
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Extreme-Joystick-Silver-Black/dp/B00009OY9U

For joysticks, I would recommend the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro. I have used it for several years and it is an amazing joystick. I've since upgraded to a Saitek x52, but you cannot beat the Logitech for its price.

There isn't one best plane to practice SB in. Decide what you want to fly and practice in that.

With airplanes you have crews for, you can go to test flight and set up a fight with AI aircraft. I would recommend a significant amount of time practicing here. Quickly and smoothly putting the nose of your aircraft where you want to shoot with a joystick takes a lot of time to learn, at least in the test flight mode you can quickly get a fair engagement which makes practicing a lot easier.

The other thing to consider is downloading the War Thunder CDK. Then you can create custom missions to practice whatever you want. Unlike in test flight you can fight an enemy one on one and you can put each other wherever you want - this way you don't have to always practice head on engagements.

dot has better quality, i think the dot is actually a newer version of the dash one.

Here are links:

T-16000M

T.16000M

T.16000M With Throttle Included

CH FighterStick

$30 new and before shipping costs http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-3D-Pro-Joystick-Windows/dp/B00009OY9U/ or step $15 upwards to get some impressive modern tech http://www.amazon.com/Hercules-2960706-Thrustmaster-T-16000M-Flight/dp/B001S0RTU0/

Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft, 1914 - 1980. I also love this book, basically had it memorized when I was a kid. Went up to take it out of my kids room when I saw this post.

Edit: to lazy to figure out my imgur login, it's on page 270. Also: http://www.amazon.com/McNally-Encyclopedia-Military-Aircraft-1914-1980/dp/0517410214

I highly suggest the Logitech Extreme 3d Pro. My buddy has one and I'm planning on buying one too. The stick can twist left and right for fine-tuning the rudder which helps immensely with aiming.

My mom picked it up from the library for like 10 bucks since they wanted to get rid of it. http://www.amazon.com/McNally-Encyclopedia-Military-Aircraft-1914-1980/dp/0517410214

well, there are some fairly affordable ones available

http://www.amazon.de/Thrustmaster-2960703-T-Flight-Hotas-Stick/dp/B001CXYMFS

amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-16000M-FCS-HOTAS-Controller/dp/B01KCHPRXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524293361&sr=8-1&keywords=T.16000

if anyone in europe is looking at this verkkokauppa.com has T.16000M FCS HOTAS combo for -50% at 59€ until tomorrow.
https://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/4388/hfqtt/Thrustmaster-T-16000M-FCS-HOTAS-peliohjainsetti-PC
They ship internationally but their website is in finnish.

http://www.amazon.com/Military-History-Definitive-Objects-Warfare/dp/0756698383

Go for the [T16000M] (http://www.amazon.com/Hercules-2960706-Thrustmaster-T-16000M-Flight/dp/B001S0RTU0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421814752&sr=8-1&keywords=t16000m&pebp=1421365832463&peasin=B001S0RTU0) or the [T.Flight Hotas X] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CXYMFS/ref=s9_simh_gw_p63_d7_i7?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-2&pf_rd_r=00ZP13N58R0Q1JZ4R509&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970567742&pf_rd_i=desktop)

The 3D pro is garbage compared to anything Thrustmaster.

Edit- Stay away from Saitek too.

It may not help because no money is still no money... but...

Logitech Extreme Pro is relatively cheap - I got mine on sale for $20 so if you look around you can find one of these relatively cheap.