The Skytation Aviator Yoke with Interchangeable Handles

I originally set out a year or so ago to build a yoke for my new home cockpit project, but then it grew into something way bigger than that. I’ve finally finished it, and I want to bring it to market. I think it’s a great yoke that checks all the boxes and provides a tremendous amount of value for flight simmers.

I’ll be making a more in depth video going over every aspect and detail of it in the next week or so.

https://youtube.com/shorts/rRuT1hAwTEI?si=DMOave-kXR4Wdwr8

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More info on the handles… https://youtube.com/shorts/xKzFbFP1_Eo?si=2DozqgdbcbvTipuX

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Very cool idea with the interchangeable yoke to stick!!

Some comments (may or may not be of use to you)

  1. Not sure i understand the use of “360 total”. Degrees is a rotation metric. Don’t see how you’ve “converted” that to a throw distance? lol
  2. The open design is kinda cool but would stop users from attaching panels on top? Like the Logitech panels etc
  3. And I would worry about animal fur gunking it up or small rodents getting jammed in the mechanism whilst in in VR! :slight_smile:
  4. It sounded kind of scratchy
  5. I suppose it’s way beyond your scope to consider a force feedback version?

Thanks for the feedback! I’ll respond below.

  1. That was just my cheesy way of describing all of the travel lengths and how they add up to 360. Not sure if you saw it but I pinned a comment shortly after I posted that because I noticed that I said “180 degrees” in the pitch travel when I meant to say 180mm. The roll is of course rotational (90 degrees each direction, 180 degrees total), and then the pitch travel is 180mm (90mm push, 90mm pull). I just noticed the other day all the travel ranges added up to 360, so I decided to coin it my “360 travel system”, but that probably won’t stick haha.

  2. So the nice thing about the frame, it is aluminum extrusion. You’ll see it close up in a more in depth video coming soon, but those radiused extrusion rails have normal v slots in them, but I have 3D printed covers on them just to make the whole thing look a bit nicer. However, those could easily be removed should anyone ever want to design/mount their own panel/tablet/etc holders, there is room on the top for that for sure.

  3. Hmm, can honestly say rodents getting jammed in the yoke never crossed my mind, but not saying it isn’t possible! All of the electronics are enclosed, so no worry of any of that getting exposed to dust/debris. With the linear rails, yes they could attract hair/dust but a simple wipe with a cloth every so often (just like with 3D printers or anything else that has exposed linear rails) will greatly mitigate that. One of the main reasons I left the entire thing open is because of the ability to adjust the bungee tension in a second. No removing panels, no unscrewing things, none of that. Just simply grab the bungee cap, move to a different slot, and you’re good. Another main reason was design. Leaving the frame open actually makes the unit feel smaller. I know a lot of desktop simmers don’t want big and bulky yokes feeling like they take up their whole desk, and while I tried to keep this one as compact as possible (while still being able to offer 180mm of total pitch travel and 180 degrees of roll) I felt like leaving it open would also help give it the feel that it’s not as big as it really is. Finally, cost. I didn’t want to put panels on it just to put panels on it because that’s what everyone else does. If it doesn’t serve a purpose, it’s not on this yoke. And panels served no purpose other than driving up the cost, so I left them off.

  4. That’s the bearings moving on the rail. Listen to any yoke that uses linear ball bearings on round shafts like that and you’ll hear it. Honeycomb is a great example, you’ll hear it there but going back to number three since mine is not enclosed it’s a bit more noticeable. However, I feel like after using the yoke once or twice you don’t even notice it anymore. I am trying out one more brand of bearings in the next couple of days, they are more expensive than the ones I currently have in the unit, but I want to see if they are a bit quieter. I’ll provide an update in the in depth video on how that ends up.

  5. Nope, no force feedback here. Not only do I not have the know-how to do something like that, the hobby doesn’t need another $1000 FF yoke. My goal with this yoke was to provide VALUE to simmers. The hardware for this hobby isn’t cheap, I get that, but I feel like if you’re going to spend money on something it should provide enough value to justify the cost. There’s too many yokes on the market right now that don’t do that, and I’m hoping this one will break that mold.

Again, thanks for your feedback, and keep an eye out on the channel for my in depth video coming soon! I’ll talk price, when I’ll begin selling them, and how I’ll sell them in that video.

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What EXACTLY are you getting up to in VR???

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There’s also more discussion, including a FAQ section, on my discord page if you’re interested. That will sort of become the official resource/support page for the yoke and handles going forward. discord.gg/4FguJyJYkC

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Asking for a friend!!

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I love the open design, with no casing. The ability to adjust the bungee resistance is a cool feature too.

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Sounds great mate. Best of luck with it!

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Just realized that you’re the legendary designer of the Citation home cockpit! Excited to see your progress on the yoke.

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Best of luck with the build, since you are at it why not consider implementing force feedback unless this has already been done.

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God bless men in sheds.

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Looks GREAT…Keep up the GREAT work. Any idea of the price???

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Nicely done. Have you considered a trim wheel, attached to the bungie in such a way as to provide physical trim adjustment of the yoke? That would be cool. Would be fun to draw up. Are you using F360 for your design work?

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Have a couple parts coming in the next few days that I want to determine if I’m going to use or not, and then based on that decision I’ll know the final price. Hoping to make a more in depth video in the next 7-10 days that’ll go over all of that and more.

That would be pretty sick, in my head I was thinking that wouldn’t play too well with the sim trim controls, but you’re talking about just bypassing that altogether and literally using the wheel to move the physical yoke off its center position, thus creating trim. That’s a pretty sick idea I may incorporate into my next home cockpit I build, but probably won’t do it with this product. Absolutely no reason someone couldn’t design it themselves, though! The frame is extrusion, so if you wanted to attach it to the base you could simply remove the slot covers I have in it and attach via some drop in t-nuts. Now I’m really hoping someone does this mod, would be cool to see! :metal:

Also, yes, I’m using Fusion 360.

Are you planning on open sourcing it (non-commercial use) and making the F360 file available? It’s pretty gratifying to watch others build (and modify) your design. I’d love to add the trim wheel to it if the draw is going to be available. I went a different direction with mine by adding motors, because FFB, right? My Saitek FFB yoke. a WIP

He obviously isn’t flying the Optica.
Maybe he needs a cat mod for his helicopters. :rofl:

Sorry OP. Back on topic. Good job working to bring a low cost yoke to the sim.

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That dog is living its best life.

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I love the idea with the interchangeable side stick for the Sirrus (although I personally find the setup awkward IRL)

There’s one thing you might want to consider for the future or as a side project if you like:
Currently there’s a certain range of GA yokes and throttles available from the cheap Logitech to high end stuff like Brunner. We also have an abundance of HOTAS systems available as well as several helicopter collectives.

What we still do not have to this day is a GA central flight stick for the LEFT hand as used in almost all European GA an UL aircraft and many US bush planes.

So if you’d be interested: a grip with a coolie hat and two or three buttons that could be mounted on the Thrustmaster Warthog and Virpil bases and gripped with both hands would be an absolutely awesome addition. Thanks

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