*Has a website without any products (cgi) shown. Personaly I would have put that news (and more) there right after the announcement at FSWeekend. I’m a bit sceptical (due to cgi only) but who knows how things go, I hope it works out.
Allegedly physical products will be on display (demo?) at FSExpo in just a few months. There’s a Texas-sized “we’ll see” attached to that in my
mind.
I like the concept he’s proposing and the design. Though after all the drama I’m reluctant to put much faith into it until I see a working production model.
Was also a bit disappointed that with the COM and AP panel there’s no Transponder, NAV 1/2, DME or ADF functionality.
The ancient Saitek/Logitech panel still gives me all those options with a simple rotary switch for the different modes.
Also what really would be brilliant would be rotary encoders for the heading bug and QNH. This has never been done properly in any product so far, and adjusting the QNH is one of those hand movements I really miss in sims.
Without those functions there’s no reason for me to switch currently. The old Logitech panels are cheap, work well and feel reasonably realistic
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I invested in Virpil’s yoke so won’t be waiting for either one of those.
I am a bit long in the tooth so can’t wait too long:confused:
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Both these entities have lost a lot of faith and confidence. The new Virpill and Winwing products seem a safer bet and most likely much better quality.
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Answer from Nicki: “There will be a quick mount solution for our own avionics (
: italics added) and an adapter to attach panels from Logitech etc. as well.”
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There will be a press release somewhere this or next week, so I’ve heard.
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Hi all, this triggered my interest so I watched the respective parts of the event on Youtube.
The new Honeycomb and Meridian GMT in the same place… interesting.
As for Honeycomb: well they had at least a photo of their product to show. Or maybe a rendering. The two guys didn’t seem too enthusiastic about their stuff. The vernier style TPM module looked interesting though.
MeridianGMT has a website with nothing on it, nothing but promises that is.
And what Mr. Repenning showed there… I wouldn’t have stepped out before an audience to present these pictures. For my eyes they seem to be photoshopped very poorly.
Look at this:
The cut off description obviously means alt static air and the knob is labelled carb heat???
The flap lever looks quite alien.
And here
they didn’t even bother to correct the perspective on the annunciators.
And Carb Heaat on Boeing and Airbus?
A year back my full sympathy was with Nicki Repenning but what I saw there made me think twice.
My impression is (and I really hope I’m wrong!) Meridian doesn’t even have a prototype.
The pictures lead me to suspect that this is all far from being ready for launch, FS2030 may be…
This is all my personal opinion of course and I don’t claim to know it all for sure.
And as I said: I hope I’m wrong.
Regards, Frank
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I agree fully. We all hope the same. Let’s await the press release.
I wish Nikki the best, but I’m a bit skeptical. Back when Honeycomb launched the Alpha and Bravo, the focus was clear: engineering, innovation, and affordability. They disrupted the market because there was no real competition at that price point.
Now, with companies like WINWING, Virpil, Thrustmaster, and others delivering high-quality, affordable alternatives, the landscape has changed. When Honeycomb shifted to the Charlie pedals, they seemed to lose focus; juggling multiple products, dealing with legal issues, and struggling to keep up with demand.
I worry Nikki might be heading down the same path again with Meridian GMT (except the legal issues; hopefully). There’s no doubt he’s a visionary, but vision alone isn’t enough. The key is execution, getting products out correctly and keeping up with demand. That’s where Honeycomb has struggled.
Just my two cents. I still hope they succeed, because more competition means better options for all of us SimFans. Cheers & Blue Skies!
Nicky was the brains behind the designs for the HoneyComb original products. You notice the HoneyComb presentation that same day, neither of the presenters could go into specifics about their own products. I’m not taking sides on the conflict between the two companies. Its just I was not impressed with HoneyCombs presentation. It was more marketing level (and kind of non-energetic at that) and whenever they attempted to go into design specifics, the explainations were vauge or even avoided. Not a great feeling for the ability to support their products let alone delivering them. Now Nicky I do expect he will deliver. I expect that there will be support. But yes, I do wonder about the timeframe that product can be delivered.
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Words really count for not a lot. I’ve seen many a good presentation with little real follow up. It’s all about delivering, product quality, value and customer service that ultimately become the determining factors. The big problem with hype is you have to then live up to it and far too often things fall short.
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But on the other hand, one of the two people at the HoneyComb presentation was their Development Lead. I could understand him being nervous, or not being good speaking, but he just didn’t KNOW some of the answers about their own products. Upon release, if there is an issue, how can you trust that they would be able to support if they don’t even understand the workings of their own product.
Both are a risk. But of the risks, I still would say at least if the one side fully understands the product, there is a better chance for delivery and support. HoneyComb has been proven to suffer supply fulfillment issues. But add in seemingly no really good understanding of their own product, and I have to say that boes ill for product support IF you do get a delivered product.
Know that Nicki has a thorough understanding about what he’s up to. He knows that what he says about the past is his word against other’s. He knows that skepticism works currently not in his favor. However: when he delivers the products that carry his vision, then the jump from low down to high up will be even larger, which can work in his favor ultimately. This he understands very well.
All words, I know. First see, then believe, is the proper attitude here, of course.
So Nikki has the inventive, knowledge and vision but lacks the capacity to produce and market while Honeycomb has the capacity to produce and market but they have no vision about their products.
Not good for simmers.
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The first product pages dropped!
Interesting! Where did you find these links?
I had bookmarked MeridianGMT from your first post in this topic but when I use that bookmark or the link in the first post there are no traces of products on that website at all.
Only when I use the links in your last post I see a dropdown arrow next to products and can have a look at them.
And having had that look I must say the photoshopping abilities of whoever did these pictures have not improved.
Just one example so you can see what I’m talking about (click on the pic):
You see how the brand name on the yoke and the reflections on the thumb rest are sharp and in focus and how the buttons on the handles are not?
That wouldn’t be possible if that was a real photograph (same distance to camera).
You see the jaggy edges of the left and right handle?
Sorry to say but my doubts are even bigger now than they were before.
More so because the Tango Plus would have had anything I need.
But then it no longer matters to me anyway because I read on the “product pages” that this whole new stuff is not X-Box compatible.
So… over and out!
Isn’t the first one especially meant for X-Box users? But you mean the yoke and tpm I think?
By the way, Nicki wanted to share as much as he can as soon as he can. He has learned from the past that users did not like that they needed to wait so long before information was available. And now he does release asap, and there’s other people who don’t seem to like that. In this way (and we know this, of course) it can never be good for everybody. I personally like that he is sharing all this information upfront.
The photoshops are not perfect. In the next few weeks better pictures will be available. But these will still be renderings of a product yet to be released. We all understand that real photo’s will only be available close to production, don’t we?
If he’s going to have physical units to demo at FSExpo in just a few short months, it’s a bit surprising that he wouldn’t even have a single real unit to photograph yet.
I think everyone in the community being weary and doubtful of things promised by either Nicki or the current iteration of Honeycomb are valid, given the history.
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Absolutely valid. So I wait, and will see.
FSExpo will only show the X-Ray, which apparently, and hopefully will go in production shortly after. My hunch is that the S and T will take a while longer.