This thing looks, and feels, like it came from an actual F-15. Holding it I feel like I could bomb [country that offends you] tonight!
Anyhow it’s a Radio Shack 26-8104 “F-15 Combat Fighter” joystick. It’s heavy. There seems to be a metal plate with actual hex head screws holding it together. There’s a mish-mash of PS2, PC, and DB-15 connectors on there, can’t wait to see if it sends out mouse or keyboard signals. Maybe because it has so many buttons it uses both the 15 pin and keyboard interface?
Googling it gives the rarely seen
“No results found for Radio Shack 26-8104 “F-15 Combat Fighter”.”
Like, you’d think maybe one or two hits, something, some retirement home Myspace page about flight sims, nothing.
I just buy these things because they amaze me more than having a use for them.
Holy shit, I wanted one of these so bad.
Or the setup they had at Babbage’s that was ridiculously out of the question for 9-year-old me.
Can you tell me more about it? Was it advertised? I’ve never seen these, I don’t remember seeing these even though I was into combat flight sims in the '80s and '90s. Granted, we’re talking Commodore 64 and Amiga so this joystick wasn’t for me anyway.
Was it a rebranded Suncom joystick? Did they have them in store for demo?
I will have to try to power up my Value Village PC and see what it does with the PS2 port.
Anyhow I can confirm that you had excellent taste in joysticks, this thing is awesome.
I think I will take it apart tonight, there is one reddit post out there with someone taking it apart, revealing a Realtek chip in the handle.
I can’t seem to find the display (as I remember it, anyway) but it looks like the joystick I’m remembering is the Flightstick Pro. So, likely less flashy, but IIRC, they also had the throttle for the left hand, too. Maybe it’s more nostalgia than anything, since this would’ve been just after Top Gun or so, and I thought I was going to be a pilot.