In recent years new HOTAS systems have been few and far between. Logitech have made their entry with the Logitech G940 that provides features that no other HOTAS offers.

The Hardware
The hardware components of the package comprise of a flight stick, a throttle and a set of pedals.

The system connects to your computer through a single USB plug and is powered by an external power supply. This reduces load on USB power and reduces the number of USB ports you will end up using. However this raises an issue that Logitech should have thought a little longer about - interchangability. The Throttle and Pedals are connected to the Stick through DB9 type connectors. Because of this you cannot mix and match or use the throttle and pedals with any other stick. This is a real pity as the Throttle and Pedals are excellent while the Stick isn't quite up to their standards.

The programmability of the stick is fairly straight forward with point and click. The programming software is a common product used across a range of Logitech gaming products. It isn't capable of any type of conditional programming so you cannot do any programming beyond simple macros like you can with CH Products or Thrustmaster. For most people this will be perfectly fine but if you're the kind of person that likes to add extra functionality through programming (for example, I've programmed my CH stick to behave like that of the Fw-190 in that rearward deflection locks the tail wheel, and if the throttle passes a certain increment it kicks in WEP boost) this set isn't going to provide you the functionality you're used to.

	The stand out feature of the stick is that it is force feedback. Unfortunately that causes some minor issues. The centering force is not overwhelming but it does result in sloppy centering. Coupled with the high sensitivity of the stick the result is instability in pitch and roll. If a dead zone is used to neutralise this behaviour you end up with a big dead zone with about an inch of 'throw' of the stick. Depending on the simulation you are playing you may be able to use filtering to smooth out this behaviour but because it's not 'jittering' it's unlikely to solve the issue. This behaviour makes it necessary to keep a tight grip on the stick. Using it in IL2 Sturmovik I found accurate gunnery more difficult than I was used to. Careful tweaking of in game settings never resulted in a completely satisfactory experience. In the end it was this issue that stopped me from replacing my venerable CH HOTAS with this stick. The build quality of the Stick is excellent. The rubberised coating is comfortable. Unless you have large hands the topmost buttons to the right are a reach for your thumb. The action of the buttons feels solid with no evidence of weak support. The hat switch is a free X-Y axis controller. The three rotaries on the base of the stick provide trim functionality as seperate axis. These do not directly affect the X-Y-Z values of the stick and rudders but would be used within a simulation as a seperate control. This is an improvement on those of the CH which are mechanical trims and have the drawback of adding to the input value of a deflection of the stick - resulting in increased sensitivity in direction of trim and decreased sensitivity in the opposite direction. The base is large and I did not experience any slippage or toppling even under heavy force feedback. There is a pronounced 'crunchiness' when the stick is deflected past the initial centre caused by the force feedback mechanism's hardware.
	The throttle is a pivoting type and is overall an excellent piece of hardware. It is a split throttle which supports dual axis - allowing control of two engines. There hasn't been a recent throttle with this feature. Both levers can be locked together to act as a single control. The throttle features two rotaries, one in easy reach on the front and one by the thumb. These are excellent for prop pitch and fine flap controls or for use as radar gate slewing in modern sims. A 'mode' switch is on the bottom that allows up to three operational modes. This is a handy feature that will allow you to quickly switch between programming sets in game without needing to exit and load another profile. The 8 way hat switch feels smooth and solid and the conical hat is once again a full X-Y axis control. The buttons on the base are not currently able to have 'state' programming (ie display the different colors) but that feature is slated for a future driver release. The throttle really is superb. It's a real pity you cannot use it as a seperate item as I consider it the finest throttle available.
	The pedals are the dual pivoting bar type. These give a smooth action. While the pedals are slightly wider than the CH pedals they could still be a couple of inches wider. The resistance is adjustable and both pedals pivot to provide braking.

Installation
The installation was very straightforward - once I had found the updated drivers. The drivers as released were not fully compatible with Vista 64 bit and I had to troll through forums before I found vague direction to the location of the updated files and eventually found them.

You cannot combine your device into one virtual device so you will have issues trying to use all three components in older games.

Use
The devices responded well and were very precise (apart from the joystick centering issues mentioned above). The force feedback was capable of both light and heavy force feedback. In IL2 this translated into very useful feedback that really assisted in flying aggressively because you can feel the buffeting as you approach critical AoA and the stiffness of the controls allowing you to judge just how hard you can pull back on the stick without risking departure.

You are essentially limited to a single function per button as no shift mode is available. This really reduces the number of actions you can have slaved to the sticks. For pre-modern era simulations this shouldn't be an issue but there's insufficient buttons and hats to give true HOTAS functionality in simulations like Falcon4AF or DCS Black Shark.

Developer support
Logitech have been around for ages and their gaming control division is unlikely to just pack up and walk away. However they have a habit of continually developing new products so it will be interesting to see how much developmental focus remains on this product. That said the functionality currently available is satisfactory, though the full functionality of the extra buttons on the base is something that needs to be addressed.

Conclusion
The G940 is a very solidly built HOTAS. While the programming is not on par with CH or Thrustmaster it still provides good functionality. It is the only Force Feedback HOTAS currently available.

It is very unfortunate that the devices are not usable or available singularly as I'd drop my CH throttle for the one in this package without reservation.

Manufacturer's site