Question 1

does this have twist rudder or do you need separate pedals?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this controller has a stick that twists for the RUDDER axis. You do not need rudder pedals, however, they add another component to three-axis aircraft flight.

Question 2

Would it work on a windows 8/8.1 2in1 dell PC?

Accepted Answer

Each stick has its own USB plug so no reason it shouldn't. If your sim direct maps Axis and key presses that is one route to orogram or use the Madcatz Rhino software to map simulation keyboard commands to throttle stick and switches buttons hats sliders etc.

Question 3

On the joystick what is the distance from the palm rest (the spot the yellow arrow points to) to the middle of the upper right (black) hat switch? I don't have the biggest hands so I'm curious what I'll be able to reach while my hand is at rest.

Accepted Answer

6 3/4"

I do have to lift and rotate my hand to operate that hat..but I also have the stick mounted off the armrest of my chair so that the top of what you are calling the palm rest is 2.5" above the arm rest height.  When I put my pinkie on the lower front button (red) and my thumb on the hat you are talking about the distance is approximately a 5 3/4" spread.

Question 4

Does the trigger have 2 levels? Can you map it so that pulling lightly will fire primary guns and pulling further will shoot primary and secondary guns?

Thanks in advance!

Accepted Answer

No, the Saitek X-55 Rhino does not have the "dual-stage" trigger that was present on the X-52.

Question 5

Would this be good for arma 3?

Accepted Answer

I think so. Especially with the different spring tension options. I adjust it lighter for Helocopter flight and stiffen it up for fixed wing. Also so many switches and buttons for configurations. It's cool for instance that I have a button on the throttle grip to use TeamSpeak.

Question 6

I just received my X-55 and I have lost x and y axis, there is also a high pitched whine coming from inside the joystick box. Does anyone have any idea how to fix the x and y axis and maybe what the whine is?

Accepted Answer

I would suggest you just get it sent in under warranty replacement, if possible before the 30 day free return is up. I had an issue that developed with a button not working correctly, and I didn't report it before the 30 day window was up, so ended up paying the shipping to get it repaired under warranty.

Issues with the X-55 are not uncommon, so you shouldn't be shy about getting it fixed or replaced until you get a good unit.

Question 7

can you  calibrate  this  stick  like  most  all  other  flight   sticks?

or is it  like  the  X-65  and the X-52  no  way  to  calibrate  except
unplug, plugin , unplug , plugin (well  you  get  the  idea )

Accepted Answer

The throttle and stick come "pre-calibrated". You can still calibrate it the old fashion way through windows but unless theres something wrong with the hardware its not going to make a difference. Like others have said, though not clearly, you can adjust the dead zones and curves of all axises. An example is using it to fly a helicopter in ARMA 3. Due to software restrictions the throttle acts wonky so I changed the curve to be much more straight causing it to be less sensitive to movement around 50% so I have more control over hovering and landing. The HUD software from Saitek does not have any other calibration system like the old days because thats always done through Windows. In Windows 7 and 8 its harder to find the gaming controller settings screen where you calibrate it. You have to goto Control Panel --> Devices and Printers --> right click any of the game controllers and select Game Controller Settings. It will bring up that ancient dialog box thats been around since like Windows 95.

Question 8

I was looking for a joystick for Elite:Dangerous. I noticed a couple of people say they were buying this for that game. Are there any compatibility issues? (certain essential controls don't have good buttons on this? or it doesn't work at all.) If anyone here has tried this with Elite:Dangerous, I'd appreciate it if you could just let me know what you think.

Accepted Answer

I also bought this for Elite Dangerous, I would suggest also getting a powered USB hub with this as well because some computers can't output the power this thing requires and that causes ghost buttons. But with a powered hub that problem goes away.

Question 9

With tension spring removed, how does it feel and does the stick stay in the position you move it to?  Interested for helicopter simulators.

Accepted Answer

I dont understand why people answer questions with a statement that basicly says "I don't know." If you don't know the answer don't post. Anyways no it does not stay in place. I tried it without the spring first and while its very smooth the stick will just fall to the side if you let it go. The stick it self is long with a bulky head at the top so it can fall quickly and too violently for my taste so I put the weakest spring in which is RED. You will probably need to add more lube at the bottom where the plastic rubs against other plastic otherwise it will be choppy.

Question 10

my first question is how compatible is it? can i use it with ANY game that is joystick compatible? like  Saints Row 4 or strike suit zero?

The second is stability when in use.  does it slide forward when you throttle up? things like that.

Accepted Answer

The answer to your first question is, "No."  Since the joystick and throttle are on separate USB cables Windows recognizes them as separate "joysticks" and many/most older games will only recognize a single joystick.  A Mad Catz rep said in an interview that they are trying to come up with a software-solution to include with future releases of the programming software.  This stupid system won't let me link to external sites, so go to "dubya dubya dyba dot simhq dot com/hardware/saitek-x-55-rhino-h-o-t-a-s-system-interview-tim-di-iullo-mad-catz.html" for the interview.

It seems pretty stable to me.  It's not particularly heavy, as it's made of plastic, but the bases are pretty large.  Each device has a whole in all 4 corners for mounting, etc.

Questions & Answers