I had feeling that something went amiss amd if it was just the supply chain being interrupted. I ordered mine on August 12th, 2022 and up to this day haven’t received the Charlie Pedals. But, I received four emails in a quarterly interval stating it was being delayed even further to a tba in the latest mail dating December 13th, 2023. I ordered with a German vendor and order via invoice/pay an account method. Guess, that’s my luck.
Kind regards.
I’ve been on the fence about buying the Honeycomb Alpha Flight Controls Yoke & Switch panel. I can get one (new) on Amazon for $249 right now - discounted from $269 last week - but I could have had the same thing from Micro Center a month or so ago for $229 (new) but hedged about whether I was really going to get into MS Flight sim at all. I bought MSFS 2020 a couple months ago when Steam was running a sale, but I haven’t played it much since.
Anyway, I did some shopping, found several versions of the Honeycomb flight yoke & switch on NewEgg ranging from $279 to $466. I think some versions work with X-box while others are for PC only. I am interested only in the PC (Windows 11) version.
I would love to have both the flight yoke and the throttle levers, but that’s another $300. So if I start with the yoke, i may add the other controls later, as I can afford them.
Thing is, it sppears that the Honeycomb yoke & switch for $249 is going away - to be replaced by a newer version that will cost more? At least that’s the picture I get from the shopping I have been doing.
Micro Center near me has one ‘open-box’ for $195, which is quite a discount - but they state that the warranty is ‘manufacturer’s remaining’ which tells me that if someone returned the product six months ago, the warranty is already short by that amount.
I’m tempted to take a drive to Micro Center and have a look at that open-box unit. They don’t have any new ones in stock anymore, so it would be my only choice at that store.
What would you do?
Thanks for your input
Ethan
Well, I decided to jump off the fence and ordered the Honeycomb Aeronautical Flight Yoke & Switch unit from Amazon for $249. In stock, sold by Focus Camera by Dec 16.
I didn’t know they were coming out with a new version of the yoke. As far as I know there are only 2 versions of the Alpha.
The first (original) version of the yoke had (I think) pots and from memory only worked on the PC or MAC. This is the Alpha.
The newer version called the Alpha XPC has Hall Sensors (supposed to be more accurate and which shouldn’t wear out as quickly) rather than pots. This version works on the PC and via an accessory also on the Xbox.
In the UK I have seen special offers on the original version but rarely on the newer version.
If you buy the Alpha just be aware of the version which you prefer and the one you are buying 
Edit: You must have posted whilst I was typing. I see you have now bought the Alpha. Hope you enjoy it
I really didn’t want to spend any more than the $250 on the Alpha.
What I was referring to as a ‘new model’ is what you described with the hall effect sensors and compatibility with X-box.
Just a head’s up here, in case it’s unclear, you’ve just bought the older model that has wear parts (potentiometers instead of magnetic sensors) from a business which is showing pretty strong signs of going under.
You may never wear those pots out and there will possibly be community-sourced replacements if you do and Honeycomb is gone, but it seems like something you should be aware of and which you are not, despite postiing about your purcahse in a thread dedicated to discussing their emminent demise.
First congratulations on a great informative post, it is a shame that their products had so much potential, yet they have let down the customers badly.
My advice to simmers, never pre-order or buy anything directly from a supplier however good it looks on a website, and always use a good credit card for additional consumer protection.
I was aware of the situation with Honeycomb before making the purchase; it was one reason I jumped off the fence and purchased the older model for $250 on Amazon.
I figured that the product won’t be available much longer, and that I probably won’t ever make use of MSFS which I bought on Steam a few months ago when it was on sale. I guess I could/should have purchased one of the other flight yokes, but I read the reviews on the Honeycomb Alpha and felt that it would give me the best flying experience at a price I could afford.
I’m not really worried about the wear parts - unless they are going to wear out after a few hundred - rather than a few thousand - hours of use with MSFS.
I am good with electronics - soldering, troubleshooting, etc - so, if the pots do wear out, and I can get replacements, then it may be possible for me to do the repair myself.
Regardless, I always have the option to re-evaluate my decision to purchase the Alpha after I receive it. Amazon always allows 30 day returns. I’ll save all of the packaging.
Correction:
I did not intend to say that I won’t get any use from MSFS 2020. I wanted to say that I wouldn’t have been very interested in flying it using only the keyboard and mouse.
I suppose that if I decide to go for the throttle controls and maybe pedals, I will go with another brand.
I’ve had the Alpha yoke over a year now and am extremely pleased. I do not think Ultrarunner2023 will be disappointed in this purchase. I use it every day for about and hour or two and it always performs flawlessly. Whatever happened to Honeycomb is a great loss to our community since they are great, affordable products.
Perhaps they will ‘regroup’ or CrowdSource so they can continue operation.
That’s pretty much what happened to the devs at Trainz a while back. They regrouped into a smaller company - N3V games.
I would not give them any money, at least not if it’s the same or majority of the same people. They clearly demonstrated that they can’t run a business despite having a good and popular product.
I took the gamble as the product is still significantly better than other options. Was considering the Boeing set, but the bravo throttle quadrant is what sold me. So far (only a few flights in), it is a much more satisfying experience than with the V1. We’ll see what happens in the future and cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I’m enjoying the flying. 
That’s the thing with the Bravo, from the perspective of someone who hasn’t had any issues with it - it is just the coolest, most satisfying piece of kit IMO. And so modular.
As someone who has founded and folded three companies — business is hard.
Absolutely love the Alpha and Bravo, touch wood, no issues with either. I have a place that has plenty of stock of both, I’ve been debating just buying another of each to put on the shelf in case.
I agree with you it is.
However, one of the things I have found to be key is communication with customers, suppliers, staff and funding agencies, transparency and honesty.
When people can’t get hold of you they start to worry and speculate and then rumours start and then you have major problems.
When it’s all failing apart it’s pretty hard to keep this up. It’s not right, but it is really hard when you feel it all collapsing and want to be free of the weight of it. You’re dealing with facing your personal failures and crumbling dreams. It’s a very difficult aspect of shutting down a business.
If the end has happened, and it certainly looks like it has, I feel badly for everyone involved – customers and business people alike.
(10 Characters)
“Now, this is obviously all speculation.”
You should have stopped there.