Universal Control Panel #2

I bought these things to use for star citizen, and they are fantastic. They are built very heavily and feel indestructible. I paired them with my constellation Alpha on warbird bases and I cannot play the game without them. The software is a little archaic, but the hardware is phenomenal.

Excellent product with great build quality and attention to detail. The Universal Control Panel #2 works exactly as expected and is a fantastic addition to my setup. I also really appreciated that the estimated delivery date was met exactly as promised. Highly recommended!

An amazing bit of kit, physically customisable, awesome quality. Only neg is I wish there were more shift registers to customise the LED behavior, but I am really picking at straws there, it really is an ace bit of kit.

Top end piece of gear without question. I currently own control panel 2 and 3 with more on the way. The customization is amazing, the quality of to of the line, the tech support is mind blowing, and the feel is as close as you can get to stripping real parts off a real plane. I'm building an entire sim pit on virpil alone because it really doesn't get much better than this.

Pros: quality, build, support, customization, feel, looks, the whole package.

Cons: priced for the quality (you WILL pay a lot) very slow processing time albeit more than worth the wait (if you are Christmas shopping, buy it the prior spring, not joking) button cap removal for sticker use is sketchy at best but I have yet to break one and if you do, there are no extras included, and software that is slightly confusing and has one major drawback. I removed the center option on the landing gear after programming the whole panel and it will remap ALL keys in sequence after that making you remap everything in game.

Overall: best of the best, can't be beat. Save up and buy a couple for flight sims, racing sims, space Sims, farming sims, and whatever else you can come up with.

This was ordered alongside two Universal Control Panel #1's and a desk mount and the whole setup was destined to complement my WinWing MIP, VKB Gunfighter stick and VKB STECS throttle. I must admit I have become a VIRPIL convert - the products are insanely well-built. I absolutely love everything about them. Their size, their weight, their full metal construction, the actuation of the buttons, switches and rotaries - everything is superb. An absolutely incredible addition to my equipment for DCS. The software is very easy to use as well and gives incredible customisation. Extremely highly recommended!

Rien a dire que plus que le produit est excellent surtout en VR, les boutons sont facilement accessible. De plus, je possède les panneaux de commande, le joy et le collectif Apache

I think this is a fantastic addition to any setup however it is incomparable with the mounting adapter with a Vmax Prime throttle. I did end up having enough slots for it to fit in my setup. Looking forward to a prime line of control panels or at least a new tandem mounting options comparable with the Vmax Prime

The long lever is also a little hard to install and with no dust protection.

I recently received my Virpil Control Base 2, and I have to say it's a true work of art. It's beautifully finished, made with top-quality materials, and features attention to detail and functionality. I highly recommend it. The software is very powerful and can be configured in a variety of ways.

The thing is flawless EXCEPT that you CANNOT program all the lights. And they don`t tell you that when buy it. So, I feel I was misled.
You can do all the airbrake, wheel and flaps indicators OR the buttons, not both. A small triviality to some, but when your disabled with memory lose it definitely is a must.

By far the best flight simulator hardware you can get. The quality is outstanding, and programming the hardware via the VPC software is intuitive once you get the hang of it. I mainly use the panel for DCS World, and it's incredibly fun to fly with. The customization options in the VPC software, and the ability to adapt the panel to different flight patterns, are fantastic. I wouldn't want to be without this panel. Virpil is more than just a name; it represents an indescribable flying experience.

The build quality and feel during use is unmatched. Period. As all VIRPIL products have been so far, for me. I agree with the issues of applying the stickers (agree should be a non sticker that’s reusable/easier to swap) as well as the software only having 5 programable LED’s out of the 7 mid panel for airbrake/gear/etc. Highly recommend

Das Panel ist der Hammer ! Wenn Virpil noch etwas an der Software arbeiten könnte das man alle tasten und Led Farben nutzen kann wäre das MEGA !
Danke für eure Inspiration und der haptik !

This is my first purchase of products from the company VIRPIL. For a long time I hesitated to buy these control panels. After a long search and comparison of alternatives and a huge amount of viewed reviews and comments, I decided and bought them. And I want to say - I did not make a mistake with my choice. The panels are made very high quality and from durable material. I really liked the software for configuring these panels.
In my opinion, the panels can be greatly improved for their functionality: please make an additional (at least a three-position) switch for the flaps, as well as a switch for the hook (for carrier-based aviation) with LED indicators and so that they are visually different, like the switch for releasing / retracting the aircraft chassis.
You can answer this: we have all this on our Throttles. But not everyone buys them. Many who buy these panels combine them with products from other manufacturers.
Many thanks to VIRPIL for producing such wonderful products for us!

100% what I expected. My first Virpil product, others will follow. In use with Elite Dangerous and DCS. Great quality, very satisfying sound & feel. Two small things I would love to see changed in future versions: Labels for LED Buttons are a bit scary to use, an easier way to put them inside or change them would be awesome.
2nd I would love to see something like the VPC link tool being native to the product (and saved on the device if possible).

I am very happy with my purchase, as said, will replace other parts of my setup with Virpil products sooner or later.

Really nice product well built recommended to a friend virpil customer service is perfect little bit long for the delivery

Its well built, good to have the option to rotate the base for the Amphenol connection depending on the placement.

However i have run into multiple issues with this.
1, the lever area needs to have a brush type cover or similar to prevent dust getting inside.
2, The T7-T8 lift covers are dangerous and sharp. Its very difficult to to use all 4 switches 23,24,25,26, The cover does not lift far back enough and its a struggle to operate all 4,toggles. I have cut my self multiple times as the edges on the covers are sharp. Please see the pictures they are not the best but you can see why i cut myself and struggle to toggle these down. A danger warning should be applied to these.

On a personal note i would not have purchased this, knowing the issue with it hence my review to others. It now sits and barley gets used, when it does as you can see i get hurt,

Yes i would recommend it if you need the toggles with the lift covers.
No i wouldn't recommend this due to being hurt all the time, or if all you need are toggles and switches, Buy a different panel.

So its 50/50 situation as well as personal needs.

Personally i would have purchased the VMAX Prime Throttle instead and utilised the buttons on that as it also has a lever. A trade in/or exchange would be good.

La fabrication de cette pièce est comme les autres produits de la marque, d'une qualité irréprochable. Qualité incroyable. Peut-être une opportunité d'amélioration pour Virpil, du côte de leur logiciel de configuration, ou l'expérience n'est pas au même niveau. C'est pour cela que je ne mets pas 5 étoiles.

Bought this to go with my Constellations for games like Star Citizen, it is perfect, fixes annoying multi key bind setup and makes things feel great, can't recommend it enough!

Control panel 2 is a weighty, solid bit of kit. The buttons are nice to use and the gear lever makes a very satisfactory 'clunk'. However, I wanted to swap out the longer lever for the provided shorter one, with no success. I have spent the last 2 hours trying to get an Allen key that fits.No joy. At this price an Allen key should be provided. Also the VPC software requires watching youtube videos before you have a clue. Usual Virpil quality with a couple of niggley problems.

I love the overall build quality and fell of the materials!
Everything feels high quality and rock solid.

I had fun using the link software to link the LEDs to functions in DCS. This is a bit difficult, but doable.

For the buttons I printed my own labels on paper and cut them out. If you use two layers, it looks great with the light from behind. No 3D printer required!

A great control panel that is definitely a lot of fun to use.

Need more buttons, knobs, switches the Virpil panels have not disappointed me in quality, mounting solutions and versatility, I'm just glad they finally came along and I got them!

This review applies to both control panels 1 and 2; part B also applies to any other Virpil product with removable, label-able buttons.
Casing construction is solid, switch construction is solid, mounting is straightforward, both mostly justify the expected Virpil price tag.

However, solid switch construction is hampered somewhat by the following questionable design choices.
A, the more minor problem, the covered switches are 1-0-1 momentary. When the cover is down, it presses the switch down; when it is up, no signal whatsoever is sent. This makes some switches which in real aircraft are covered toggles, e.g. master arms, difficult to implement. A 1-0-1 momentary-latched-latched switch might have been the better option here.
B, the more major problem, involves the button caps and button labels. The transparent caps are difficult to remove by the method outlined in the manual, especially without damaging the considerably more fragile lower half beneath; the labels, meanwhile, are adhesive - meaning that relabelling a button is impractical. Non-adhesive plastic or even translucent paper would have been preferrable with easily-removed button caps, but as it stands I may have to 3D-print my own, pre-labelled ones.

What else....... Top of the top

Patiently waited until Christmas Day to open and install it. Boy, did it deliver.

This is the device that really makes you appreciate Virpil Link Tool. Control Panel #2 makes it a necessity to maximize the experience. If you resisted till now, it motivates you to go the extra mile.

The use of VPC Link Tool utilizes every single LED button on the throttle, CP#1&2, potentially joysticks, as a mini gauge / display. You can show valuable information on them. CP #2 makes it obvious with gear, flaps, airbrake, etc. You want to see live values from the simulator, not a colour based on you pressing the lever. This is achievable with the Link Tool for specific aircraft and games. And should work for all Virpil devices with LEDs.

To the actual Control Panel #2 - it's just top notch. What you'd expect from Virpil. My 3rd device, sturdy as hell, mounted on the mini V3 mount next to CP#1.

The gear lever is amazing, 3 positions, all posible uses covered. Nice touch with the pulling-to-overcome-resistance feature. Finally 3 trim encoders. Love them, you can always use those. Then the usual switches, buttons, LEDs, emergency switches, momentary switches, just many more buttons and scenarios you can use.

My only possible critique is this: I tried to plug a neighboring CP#1 with CP#2 in a master-slave way, but they both boast only a slave-out connector on top of the USB connector. However, that's not enough to deduce even a point in a hypothetical scoring contest.

It's 5 out of 5, 10/10, actually 12/10 because of the Link Tool. It just pushes the immersion level one up. The DCS integration allows you to see if you have a gear problem in your favourite aircraft / helicopter. An much, much more.

Virpil is a lovebrand by now. Thank you for the experience. Keep up the great work you're doing.

I really like the feel of the buttons and the ability of the software to get the gear-lever to work with Elite Dangerous. I have to play around with those encoders in Xplane, though, because of the timings and delays etc. in the software do not seem to work too great out of the box.

The only downside are the silver momentary toggle switches, one of them is really hard to work, the others feel a bit stiff or notchy.

This is a sturdy, beautiful product that really helps immersion when flying either virtual GA or military aircrafts.

I liked:
- high build quality
- sturdy
- looks pretty
- can be integrated with other Virpil devices via their mounts
- fantastic customizable gear lever that really helps virtual cockpit immersion

My only issue with this device:
- this device has 7 LEDs dedicated to displaying the state of landing gear, landing gear warning, flaps and airbrake (you can see those around aircraft profile on product images). However, Virpil software only allows 5 shift states and each state can either control the color of all LEDs or one LED. Thus, you cannot control all 7 of them using just Virpil software kit. I've had to investigate and write a program that outputs the state of respective systems in MSFS onto these LEDs myself. I believe this is a bit of an oversight for a device that is supposed to be plug-and-play.

Had my one from 1st release number 72 and it is excellent.
I have been looking for a good balance in switches and buttons. I not only got that but I also got programable LED's and Lever TOP Class.
Build quality is second to none even the button clicks are very impressive.
Not only can you get this great product the CP#2 you can also get the CP#1 & CP#3 Virpil have are catering for everyone.
Keep up the great work Virpil your Website is on my favourites fantastic products