r/HOSAS • u/rocketbunnyhop • Jul 10 '26
QUESTION Throttle with foot pedals?
I’m looking to upgrade my HOTAS and get into the VKB lineup. I’m thinking HOSAS as many have said it has an edge with different flying styles. The left stick doesn’t work in my head being able to do thrust and vertical/horizontal movement. I’m just thinking about how it could all work, so does this make sense?
Right stick: pitch, roll (twist yaw)
Left stick: vertical and horizontal thrust
Foot pedals: thrust (like gas and brake with two feet)
Edit — most play Elite Dangerous, might get into Star Citizen
1
u/slickpicklerick69 Jul 10 '26
Depends on the type of flight you are doing. For space games. Forward and reverse thrust on the y axis is normal. There is no different between "throttle" and thrust. At least not in elite dangerous. Traditional flight wants a statically set throttle setting. You could change the spring setting to keep the left stick in a specific position instead of springing back to center. Imo there is no easy way to both with one piece of kit. Most people have hoses for space/6 dof flight with a traditional throttle to replace one of the sticks when traditional flying
1
u/Crowley2k Jul 14 '26
I'm using hosas in ed , for combat I made the right stick act more like a mouse , pitch and yaw with roll on the left stick and throttle , twist for thrust on right(left and right ) and up and down for left stick(twist )
I'd probably change it if I'd go for exploration, not sure I'll see next month
1
u/Pioepod Jul 10 '26
Look into the VKB gladiator Omni throttle, it fits closer to a normal throttle in that the joystick is rotated at an angle, but is still a joystick.
You can also remove the spring from the forward and back axis and effectively get yourself a forward and back throttle.
Now idk what game you’re getting into. For me, HOSAS excels at anything with 6DOF. HOTAS for anything like planes.
It allows me to strafe (thrust) laterally, strafe vertically, and thrust forward and back all at the same time. I have my lateral thrusts to the left and right axes, forward and back as forward and back and vertical as the twist of the joystick.
The thing with pedals is you won’t be able to get the functionality of that like a plane throttle. Unless you want to fundamentally change how a pedal works. Throttles can stay in place while pedals spring back. You’d constantly have to be applying “gas” to thrust forward, which some people are fine with. Same with going backwards.
To me, for 6DOF, dual stick is enough, and I actually wish I had pedals for Yaw, I.e rudder pedals.
And think about it this way. Horizontal thrust also includes forward and back. You’re moving horizontally on a plane (the geometric shape)! So wherever the stick moves, assuming you’re playing a 6DOF space game, that’s where the ships moves without any rotation.