I posted this topic in Hardware and Peripherals last week and have gotten some great advice. It’s interesting that all 3 of you VR simmers who have already helped guide me use the Honeycomb Alpha yoke. I’m posting it here in VR to see if anyone else has further advice. Thanks everyone for joining in:
I’ve been flying MSFS in VR for 3 years using a controller, mouse and keyboard. I am about to change to yoke/throttle quadrant/rudder pedal peripherals. I’m concerned that using switches on yoke and quadrant will be difficult in VR. Do any of you have any further recommendations for this transition? What are the best peripherals with VR in mind?
Honeycomb Alpha Yoke is equiped with lots of buttons on the yoke handle and also switches on the case, which have 2 distinct shapes which helps if you can’t see them, with a VR headset donned.
However, buying Alpha may be difficult as Honeycomb Aeronautical seems to be in poor business shape. It’s relatively simple device all (I know it quite well as I modded it for natural trim handling) with decent build quality, so I even today I would still take a gamble and buy one, even if not sure if there will be anybody out there to provide the warranty services.
Yoke operation (forces, tension, smoothness, range of movement) is also quite decent.
Given the shape Honeycomb Aeronautical currently appears to be in, I would buy nothing from them. Too many people that have placed orders over the last couple of months have been stiffed. It also appears that there were some major quality issues with their last production runs and have left all those with warranty claims in the dark with no responses to their warranty claims.
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I have the Winwing orion 2 hotas. Really well made and good price. A good hotas setup once all the button assignments are learned is perfect for VR. Check them out. They have lots of great peripherals. WINWING
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As I mentioned in your other thread, my Honeycomb Alpha just failed (2yrs), and many have, and are experiencing this issue of the yoke moving both elevator and ailerons together. Fix is to open it up (void warranty) and tie down the loose cables that rub the circuit board when moving the yoke.
Rumour has it Honeycomb is in trouble.
I have both the Honeycomb Alpha yoke and Beta throttle set up, but as I use the same desk for normal computer work and flight simming, I can’t be bothered setting them up most of the time as then they just get in the way. Instead I mostly use a Thrustmaster Airbus model joystick, a cheap and cheerful Logitech throttle quadrant and the less than stellar basic Thrustmaster rudder pedals (the latter I really need to upgrade, as they are not that great).
This simple set up has more than enough buttons and sliders for my needs, plus even though not realistic in many aircraft, I just like flying with a joystick. Each to their own, I guess.
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Not hardware specific comments, more general…
The one downside of VR is not being able to see your controls/keyboard etc. which can be a hinderance at times. That said I do not find it a massive issue personally if you have your hardware controllers set in a consistent position you soon build up muscle memory. Likewise I have no problem placing my hand on my mouse and using that to interact with buttons and switches in the virtual cockpit.
The only real remaining complication is using the keyboard, but I tend to use VoiceAttack for any sim functions that would ordinarily mean using the keyboard. for example I use a voice command to “centre view” to reset my view in VR and I also use VA to interact with ATC.
Hi if you fly or plan to fly helicopters or bush flight then I would recommend the thrustmaster warthog joystick with a 100mm extension tube. For. “Rudder” I use the Tuttle Beach Velocity one both of these give you a lot more fine control.
I only fly in VR (last 2 years) - I have a NLR ‘cockpit’ with v3 motion base + buttkicker, Alpha yoke, set of Saitek throttle quadrants and an ancient set of pro pedals. Fly mostly GA in VFR.
For what it’s worth, the only buttons I have programmed are to enter/exit VR, center view and elevator trim. For everything else, I use the mouse on a board clamped just to the right side of the yoke.
Despite the lack of realism using the mouse, I find that looking for & using switches in the ‘right place’ in VR is more immersive than using controller switches that have no relationship whatsoever to how they are actually set out.
Main downside to this is using rotary knobs that need some finesse (that can be a bit tricky!) and the occasional slow response of the mouse pointer. As @Blitzer303 says above, I never have any trouble finding and using the mouse itself. In my case, I don’t use the keyboard at all once in VR.
