I currently have an X56, which although nice wasn’t really made for this. The stick is fine, but the throttle doesn’t quite cut it. I’m trying to limit the amount of controllers I have, but I realize I need some kind of throttle to serve me in the Cessna 152 as well as the Boeings and Airbus liners. I also notice how important Trim is when flying those small planes so it will need a Trim wheel.
As much as I don’t want to keep throwing money at this, it seems to be coming down to the HoneyComb Bravo Quadrant for all the throttles I’ll probably ever need or the VelocityOne Flight System which has a yoke and Vernier throttles. I can’t determine how well the Trim wheels work, but they have them. And the VelocityOne is of course nice as a yoke controller with extras.
There are many out there, with as many different price points.
Wants, and needs would be useful to establish.
If you want to fly twins, or more, then getting a six lever quadrant is probably a good first step.
When I first started with flight sims, I got a Logitech Pro Flight Quadrant, which has three levers. After a month or so I then moved to a TQ6+ 6 lever quadrant with hall effect sensors, and idle detents.
I’m not certain how much of an enthusiast I will become just yet. So I want to limit the amount of hardware I have. It is likely I will eventually get the TCA Airbus controller to cover that craft. A yoke controller would cover the Boeings as well. But a big part of MSFS is the exploring, alone or in groups. And you don’t do that in airliners but in slower prop planes.
It is unlikely I will ever go for the 1000+ per part cost that I see in dedicated stores (even though for “only” 9000 bucks I can turn my chair into a full-motion simulator which sound fun). But I likely would stay in the 200-400 category. Even so, I’d prefer to get something now which lasts me even when I get to intermediate or even advanced levels. It’s still a LOT of money.
EDIT: So the TQ6 is more than I’m willing to spend on one item for the forseeable future.
That Airbus one would probably be a good fit, and at an excellent price point too:
You can use it for singles or twins, and has some switches at the front for fuel, and starter. With some careful binding of sim functions to the right buttons, it would work.
You’d have no real mixture control for a prop or condition for turbo props though, or prop levers, but you could just buy a second one of these, and plonk it right next to it, and it would still be less than £200.
It would also be worth looking at the Honeycomb Bravo. You can get those for just over £200 at most places. It has six levers with interchangeable handles, and a trim wheel, tons of switches, and an annunciator panel. I’ve never used one myself, but it always looked like some of the switch placements looked at odds with the levers.
With that minor negative it could be a more complete solution for you, usable across a wider range of plane types than the 2 lever Airbus quadrant. I saw them on eBay for £215, which is a steal!
Folks with 3D printers have gone to town with addons for this, turning it into things like:
Well, the TCA is on my list of things I will most likely get - eventually. And I had not considered simply getting 2. But it’s lacking the Trim and like you mentioned may still not be much more helpful with prop planes compared to my current one.
As stated in my initial post, I am looking at the Bravo already. It does seem to meet all throttling needs.
I’d simply use it with my X56 stick and should be good for the forseeable future for both stick and yoke planes.
I guess I’m mostly looking to see if people know things I don’t. It has been known to happen. Most of you have more experience, although I am quite an experienced MSFS package downloader by now.
If you look at what is out there, to my eyes there seem to be a small number of main types of throttle quadrant:
Throttle quadrants that do nothing but power, prop, and mixture/condition. They tend to be very well built though, often metal rather than plastic. They also tend to use hall effect sensors rather than pots. They also tend to be expensive.
Throttle quadrants with other features such as multi-purpose switches, lights, trim wheel, gear lever etc. These are often made of plastic, and may not use hall effect sensors, which would offer a smoother experience, and a longer lifetime too. They are usually much more affordable.
The new Bravo, with a different case, and which works on XBox as well as PC, does have hall effect sensors, so is in camp 2, but with something of a foot in camp 1.
+1 for the TQ+ 6 from me. I appreciate OP has said it’s more than they are willing to spend currently, but for anyone who is willing then I can vouch for it being high quality kit. I use it for piston and turbo aircraft.
I also own a pair of the TCA throttles for up to four engines and, while plastic and a bit lightweight, they do the job well for jets.
Many years ago I invested in a Throttletek flight box custom-built with an A380 throttle setup. This served me well but needs a full overhaul, so I dismantled it and will repair and rebuild it with Hall effect sensors at some point. I also have an A320-style throttle quadrant on order with them for delivery later in the year. These will replace my TCAs.
Truth be told, this hobby can get rather expensive, so knowing your limit is important. Were I the OP I think I’d be looking at the Honeycomb Bravo. A friend has the Velocity One and likes it, but I’m less fond of all-in-one arrangements as I like more flexibility.
I really like my Bravo. As mentioned above, the annunciator panel is a bit cramped, but then again my desk space is a bit cramped as well. I’m considering a 3D printed mount I saw on Etsy that lets you mount the Alpha yoke (which I also have) and the Bravo throttle quadrant under the desk, freeing up space for other ‘stuff.’
Actually, that cheapest cockpit is completely foldable. Maybe not as comfortable but worthy of consideration to have all controls in their right place and fold it when not flying.
Who knows, I may at some point get to where I buy the more expensive stuff like Virtual Fly products and actual avionics. But for now, having a few controllers which will allow for comfortable and accurate flying is enough.
The last purchase for a good while after this might be a Class Echo.
Within my price range and takes up less space than all the functions it provides. If I take the Arduino version I get to tinker as well. Win-win.
Then I’ll re-evaluate in a year to see how much I’ve actually been flying and if I want to throw more money at it for an even better experience.
So it seems there’s a reasonable consensus about the Bravo then. I’ll give it a few more hours, I’m learning new things from this thread.
Thanks for the pic, @BegottenPoet228 it’s always good to see what they really look like. How’s the trim wheel? I see some mixed reviews.
It’s really very simply. If you have a device that performs a single function, it probably does it better than a device that tries to do multiple things. The MF device won’t be the best at any one thing, hence the compromise.
Of course, the other potential issue is that if any one component breaks, you may need to replace the entire unit. If you had separate devices you just replace that one device. So in the case of the Bravo you have a TQ, trim wheel, annunciator panel, and some multifunction switches. The more you put in, the more there is to break.
A consideration is that if you buy all those components separately, they will cost substantially more than the Bravo Throttle Quadrant. Been using mine for two years and love it.
It was my attempt at a joke. Calling it an expensive hobby and knowing when to stop, to which I replied with full motion platforms and the DIY massage chair.
Looks like another vote for the Bravo. Do I need the software to make it work with MSFS2020 or will it work out of the box? And is the AP compatible enough to use for the game?
The only sottware I use for the Bravo is the AFC_Bridge software from Honeycomb (or Aerosoft) that enables the LED lights in the Bravo. Regarding the AP features, the buttons and rotary encoders on the Bravo work well with most all autopilots. I especially like the Bravo for setting altitude, VS speed, activating NAV, Heading, etc. without having to resort to the mouse [I hate using a mouse to fly an aircraft].
And the trim wheel? One tick doesn’t send the airplane into a nosedive? It’s actually possible to trim a prop plane to the point where I can release the stick every so often?
This is an issue I have a lot right now, which is why I’m asking.
Watch this excellent video by my favorite Flight Simulator YouTube contributor.
I installed the recommended software and followed his instructions. The Bravo trim wheel behavior is perfect.
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The other ‘must have’ (IMHO) for the Bravo is the Better Bravo Lights addon. It greatly improves the Bravo lighting. Download it and use the included installer. It will autostart with MSFS (I use the default location for the Community folder. Not sure how the installer would handle it if you’ve moved yours.)
Yes, the bravo is excellent and highly versatile. I use mine in conjunction with Saitek panels and there are very few things I have to use the mouse for, although to get the full potential of such a combo, you do need to end up using a 3rd party driver. This also true for some of the more complex 3rd party aircraft that don’t use the standard commands available in MSFS. But for most GA, it will work out the box with the couple of plug-ins suggested above.
I just want to mention that you are not required a yoke to “get the most out of” a given plane. You can fly a yoke-based aircraft with a joystick perfectly fly. I use a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) for most everything and it does it just fine. My immersion is not ruined and the planes fly all the same.
Don’t get distracted by the peripherals with all the bells and whistles just yet. Start with the basics, upgrade from there. I have the TWCS Throttle from Thrustmaster (came with the t16k flight pack) and while it’s starting to show its age but it’s put in thousands of hours of work. Works good for GA and airliners, left hand operation, has mini-joystick, trim wheel and plenty of buttons
It also costs significantly less than the Bravo and all the people i’ve talked to spent more time trying to configure it than they did playing the game
