After 9 months, I’m finally taking the plunge and jumping from the humble default Xbox controller to a proper yoke + throttle combo, and I need your help please!
I intend to fly both GA and jetliners, but maybe with a small bias towards jetliners.
I have shortlisted the following 3 yoke + throttle combinations :
HONEYCOMB Alpha Yoke XPC (Xbox compatible and releasing Sept ‘22) + HONEYCOMB Bravo Throttle (Remark: can easily combine with Charlie Rudder Pedals later on …);
Or
THRUSTMASTER Boeing Yoke Pack (comes bundled with THRUSTMASTER throttle quadrant) (Remark: Side advice needed on what rudder pedals work best with this combination …);
Or
THRUSTMASTER Boeing Yoke + HONEYCOMB Bravo Throttle (Remark: Side advice needed on what rudder pedals work best with this combination …);.
Option 3 was thrown into the shortlist simply because I read somewhere that the Thrustmaster throttle quadrant that’s bundled with the Boeing yoke in Option 2 is somewhat not as highly regarded, compared to the Honeycomb Bravo. I may be wrong, of course.
For those of you who have the privilege of owning either, or better still, both, the TM and HC yokes/throttles, your views will very much be appreciated, but otherwise, all views are most welcome. Of course, the HC yoke currently in use is the first generation yoke, and the one I have in mind is the new XPC version releasing in Sept, so not quite totally identical, but I’m assuming the new version will be an improvement from the Gen 1 version.
Thanks in advance folks. I hope to have some clarity before I take that plunge and your views will truly matter.
EDIT: It seems Option 3 is off the table for me as an Xbox user, simply because the Bravo will only be compatible with Xbox if used with the Honeycomb Xbox Hub, which in turn needs the Alpha as the sole connector to the Xbox. In short, no Alpha, then no Bravo and no Charlie … so it’s a straight fight between Options 1 & 2.
I have the Alpha and Bravo, plus a Thrustmaster T.6000M Hotas Throttle, so I have all configurations covered. Regarding your question I would definitely go with a Bravo, its setups are so flexible and the trim wheel is a great addition. I’d stay away from the Velocity Flight One, I had this prior to the Honeycomb and the quality and engineering is terrible.
Seems like if you wind up owning Honeycomb stuff, you’ve found your way into a fairly future-proof peripheral scenario. They’re just so modular. Lot of bang for your buck. That’d be the route I go.
I agree with the sentiments here. I have the Alpha and Bravo (plus the Saitek radio panel) and I am very happy with all of them.
And since the topic of rudder pedals has been breached in this thread already: What are people’s feelings about good value options? I have the Logitech ones but honestly they’re junk. I’d like something better for when the weather turns cold and I spend more time inside simming. The Honeycomb Charlie ones are slated to come out this fall and they’re a strong contender for me, but I’m not holding my breath that they’ll actually be released. Are there any other good alternatives, should I wait cash in hand for the Charlie pedals, or should I just splurge and spend a couple hundred bucks more on the Thrustmaster TPR pendular rudder pedals?
I own the Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo. Excellent products, but do be warned that the trim wheel on the Bravo is NOT an axis input, it’s a button press in one direction and another button press in the opposite direction. It took me a while to understand how to accommodate for that, but I eventually did.
I’ve also owned the Saitek Pro Flight system (the trim wheel of which set my expectations for trim wheels to be axial and not button presses). I find the Honey Comb superior to the Pro Flight yoke.
Also, the switch buttons on the Bravo should be set to “Set” in control setup, not “toggle” nor “on/off”
That’s a good point. I ended up having to get a Spad.next subscription in order to make all my hardware work (setting up the bravo’s trim wheel being a big factor in that decision). I don’t think Spad.next (or axis and ohs, etc.) are an option for Xbox?
Edit: But in the end the cost of the subscription has been worthwhile for me. It lets me do things with the Alpha and Bravo like fine-tune the trim wheel, controlling the panel lights in the C152 and 172 from a switch on the Bravo, fixing the KAP140 autopilot’s quirks, using one of the throttle axes on the bravo for controlling carb heat in the C152, and fixing the stupid instantaneous spoiler deployment that’s used to simulate prop drag in the Aerosoft Twin Otter (by making the spoilers deploy progressively over a small range of prop beta, rather than all at once at a specific prop beta value).
Unless slight monetary saving is of concern, I’d go for Boeing Yoke + Bravo + Charlie. The Boeing Yoke is by all accounts superior to the Alpha as Y/X axis controller with superior mechanical design including twice as much pitch throw (for better control precision) and better one handed controllability.
There’s nothing that’s likely to be superior on the pipeline either, so this setup will likely remain the absolutely best one for Xbox for some years to come.
Or nevermind, this won’t work as the Hub needs the XPC to connect.
I’d look at boutique pedals (for PC, won’t work on Xbox) if you want value specifically. If you are in EU then you can get VKB T-Rudder with pretty cheap shipping from the EU store (in US they are comparatively more expensive with shipping from China) if you are okay with basic pedals without toe brakes (though they do offer automatic differential braking ala some real world planes). MFG Crosswinds are a popular choice otherwise, and in similar price point as Charlie. If you are in US then Virpil just set up a US shop with a local warehouse, which would probably be good choice for value right now. I’d consider it unlikely that Charlie pedals will match any of these in value with the $350 price they arrived at. Meanwhile TPR’s main criticism has been that they while they are good they are expensive compared to the boutique competitors.
I believe you might get around to assigning the Bravo trimmer to a relative axis with some programming software (Authetikit’s free one)?
How far past the base plate do the rudder pedals protrude when fully deflected? (i.e. if the base plate is up against a wall, can you fully deflect the pedals without bonking the wall with the pedal?) I ask because I wouldn’t be bolting them down, and I don’t want them to slide around when I press on them. I have my Saitek pedals braced up against the wall with a wooden spacer for that reason.
I was lucky to find a brand new pair of Virpil pedals locally, the guy just didn’t get on with them. They are really well engineered and built like a tank. When I got them in April the Honeycomb Charlie’s were a long way off and I didn’t want to spend $700 CDN on the Thrustmaster TPR’s
They reach about only halfway. Nothing extends past the base plate in the back. The pedals are centered on the base plate for balance. The base extends about 2 inches in the back past any parts. So yes you could put it up against the wall.
Further to your valuable comment, I looked up connectivity issues and just discovered that this option combo is off the table for me as an Xbox user, simply because the Bravo will only be compatible with Xbox if used with the Honeycomb Xbox Hub, which in turn needs the Alpha as the sole connector to the Xbox. In short, no Alpha, then no Bravo and no Charlie … I will make an edit to my main post to highlight this point.
I may have misunderstood, in which case sorry, but I meant when using them, not when storing them. Do the pedals extend out beyond the back edge of the baseplate when they’re fully deflected one way or the other?
That sucks, completely missed that the Hub needs to go through the Alpha to connect, sorry for that (I wonder if it really needs to or if this is more of a business decision?). In that case you might be best with the full Honeycomb set, especially since the Boeing yoke to my knowledge offers no connectivity for pedals (even though some other Thrustmaster gear do) so if you wanted any pedals you’d need to buy the T Flight HOTAS set with the cheap TFRP pedals to have any, or alternatively wait for the purported Turtle Beach pedals in hopes they might support standalone connectivity.
If you do go for the Alpha, make sure it is the second generation model. The original, with the curved top has comparatively low axis resolution. I believe it is also not XBox compatible anyway, unless some converter is used.
The new model has a higher spec., is XBox compatible, and I believe can be differentiated by its flat top.
Yes, that’s indeed correct. The Xbox compatible version, called the XPC, will start shipping on Sept. That’s why I’m getting excited and starting to evaluate all the options in earnest before committing myself to one or the other.
Wow that sounds cool! Thanks for that technical bit of information. I didn’t know that nor quite understand what all that means but certainly that’s promising and gets another vote for the Honeycomb Alpha XPC!
For the precision, instead of having 256 individual settings from one extremity to the other, you will now have 4096.
So what felt jerky before will feel smoother, which is a complaint made occasionally for some planes, and not felt by all users equally because of differences like this.
… so it’s a straight fight between Options 1 & 2.
