Important Note for Gamers
Simmers may skip this part. Gamers, listen up.
Flightsimming with a mouse and keyboard, while technically
possible, is a fool's errand. You simply cannot maintain adequate control and
mouse and keyboard are not found on in the cockpit. Gaming joysticks, while
loaded with lots of lights, 3-D twists and other doo-dads, are a blast when
playing MechWarrior or fighting games but just don't give you a realistic feel
for what it's like to fly an airplane.
Get Real!
is all about reality and not at all about fantasy. If you approach
flightsimming as a game and just love your Saitek X-52 HOTAS or Cyborg stick –
that's just fine. Go for it and enjoy! Saitek makes wonderful products for
gamers. Logitech, on the other hand, makes cheap junk that I personally have had
break off in my hand. Regardless, I'm not going to debate the merits of game
sticks or gamer HOTAS imitators. The point is that this article is not for
gamers unless you want to graduate from gaming to simulation and crave a
realistic flight experience. If that's the case, read on.
Avoid the Toys, Get the Real Thing
If you're ready to ditch that game stick and go for a yoke
or flightstick, I recommend getting flight controllers that are modeled after
the real things. When you Get Real!, you're seeking the most
realistic flightsim or combat flightsim experience you can have while sitting in
front of your desktop screen. That realism starts right here, in the palm of
your hand.
Match the Controller to the Airplane: Yoke or Stick
Since airplanes are all flown either by yoke or flightstick,
your first choice is to match the controller to the type of airplanes you like
to fly. Heavy jets (except for the new Airbuses), classic aircraft, and most
general aviation twins and single engines are controlled with a yoke. Military
jets, warbird fighters, some of the new glass cockpit props and many of the new
microjets are controlled using a flightstick.
Different Feel, Better Experience
There is a significantly different feel between a stick and a
yoke that affects your situational awareness while flightsimming. When you grab
a yoke, you tend to throw your body weight into raising or dropping the nose by
pulling and pushing on the yoke, just like in a real cockpit. When your aircraft
rotates and lifts off as you gently pull back on the yoke, you get a much
greater sense of motion and your eyes tell your brain to tell your body that you
are experiencing the rotational movement of takeoff. It's a real thrill to
switch from a game stick to a yoke and then lift off in a Boeing 767, 747, a big
heavy turboprop like the C-130 Hercules or a giant like the C-5 Galaxy, C-17
Globemaster or the gargantuan AN-225, the world's largest airplane. When those
babies lumber through V1 and V2 to leap skyward, that yoke in your hands gives
you the feeling of the power of these magnificent aircraft.
Flying a stick has its own unique physical experience. It's more
of a deft balancing act with small incremental movements and quick responses.
That's why you want a stick in a combat jet or warbird. Even in the heat of a
dogfight or long range missile engagement, the aircraft is controlled with
small, precise movements and not by yanking the stick around.
If you fly both stick and yoke-controlled aircraft, you'll want
both types of controllers to experience maximum realism in every flight.
Are Sticks Replacing Yokes in Modern Aircraft?
Yes, and no. Airbus and other general aviation aircraft
manufacturers such as Adam Aircraft, Cirrus, and many others have
switched from yokes to flightsticks. Many other manufacturers such as Boeing,
Cessna, Raytheon, Piper and the rest, still use a yoke controller. One of the
first heavies to fly with this stick cockpit design was the Space Shuttle. Real
world stick controllers tend to follow the design of the F-16 Falcon HOTAS
(Hands On Throttle and Stick) system.
The entire series of Boeing jets from the 707 to the new
787, all use yokes. The new trend in glass cockpit design for Airbus A320,
A330, A340, A350, A380, and many other microjets and prop aircraft is to use a
stick. Even in heavy bombers, both yokes and sticks are used. The
venerable B-52 uses a yoke while the B-1B Lancer uses a stick like a fighter
jet.
In side-by-side cockpit seating, the pilot's flightstick is
located on the left side and the copilot's is on the right side. For single seat
or tandem configurations, the stick is on the pilot's left side
Traditional flightsticks in classic warbirds and many other
modern fighter jets place the stick between the pilot's legs. All modern
American jets use a similar control stick design that has many buttons and
switches on the stick so that the pilot can maintain hands on stick and throttle
while simultaneously controlling multiple weapons, radar, HUD and ECM functions
with one hand on the stick and the other on the throttle. Fighter pilots call it
"playing the piccolo" because you use all five fingers on each hand, all the
time.
Jets like the Eurofighter, F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet, Rafale
and all warbirds such as the Mustang, Thunderbolt, Spitfire, ME-109, Zero and
Corsair; place the stick in the center between the pilot's knees. Modern
fighters such as the F-16, F-22 and F-35, place the stick on the right-hand
side.
What this all boils down to is that yokes are still the most
widely used flight deck controller although all the new Airbus jets use sticks.
So, your choice of controller for your flightsimming depends on whether you love
flying the Boeings (and other yoke-controlled airplanes) or the Airbuses
(and other stick-controlled airplanes). I personally use both yoke and stick.
Not at the same time, of course. I switch controllers as needed based on any
particular flight's aircraft.
More Gear, More Real
There are essentially three levels of controller realism:
Good:
Flightsim Yoke, Flightstick or Both.
If you want decent realism, but are not prepared to invest a
large sum, you can start with either a yoke or a flightstick. My advice is to
trash the game stick and get the
CH Products Flightsim Yoke USB or the
CH Products Fighterstick USB. Both are rock-solid products with a highly
realistic design and feel. They score much higher on reality points that the
other game sticks or HOTAS simulators from manufacturers such as Saitek,
Thrustmaster and Logitech.
Both the Flightsim Yoke and Fighterstick have lots of
programmable buttons and levers with built-in throttle controls. You can choose
to fly with auto-rudder engaged or you can program a button or thumbwheel to
provide manual rudder control. If you never get another controller, get one or
both of these. You could spend more for a yoke or stick from Elite or Precision
Flight Controls that is actually FAA certified for loggable flight
simulation training. But, since Flight Simulator itself is not certified by the
FAA, why go to all that expense? While both Elite and Precision Flight Controls
make outstanding, high-quality products, their ultra-high cost will only deplete
your bank account without a commensurate return on your investment in flightsim
realism with FS2004 or FSX.
The yoke clamps to your desktop and is best positioned directly
in front of the screen. It has a USB interface and that makes it a snap to
plug-and-go, then remove and store when you want to use your PC for other
activities. Make sure to leave room behind the yoke to allow clearance for the
center strut to move in and out. Use the review link below to get more details
on the CH Products Flightsim Yoke.
The most realistic flightsticks are designed to imitate the F-16
HOTAS system which has a right-hand design for the stick with the jet throttle
on the left. When using a flightstick, I place it on the desktop in the same
general location that it would be in the cockpit of the airplane I am flying.
So, just slide it to the center or over to the right for a more realistic
feeling. Since no one has yet made a flightsim left-handed captain's flightstick
to simulate the side-by-side glass cockpit stick design, that's one compromise
we all need to make.
Better:
Add Rudder Pedals.
To get the real feel of flying an airplane, you need to use
rudder pedals with toe brakes. Using auto-rudder or controlling the rudder with
buttons and thumbwheels just does not give you a realistic feel for the
aircraft. This applies to both airborne and ground control. Correctly calibrated
rudder pedals give you the delicate control you need to handle turns and to make
fine adjustments to stay on course. In the heat of battle during a dogfight,
standing on the rudder and pulling high-G turns simply cannot be imitated by
auto-rudder. My advice is to spend a bit more and add
CH Products Pro Pedals USB. Rock solid, accurate and reliable; these pedals
have toe brakes and can perform double duty as accelerator and brake pedals for
auto racing simulation.
Best:
Add a Jet Throttle or Throttle Quadrant.
Controlling throttle, prop pitch and fuel mixture is as
vital for flying an airplane as managing roll, pitch and yaw with your
flight controllers. Complete your flight controller installation by adding
throttles. As with the yoke or stick decision, you should match the throttle
to the type of aircraft you fly.
Throttle quadrants come in a variety of shapes and
configurations that range from the classic elegance of the DC-3 and
the B-52's 8-engine quadrants, to the sleek designs of the current crop of
twin-engine modern jet airliners and single engine simplicity. For
flightsimmers, throttle controls fall into two categories: HOTAS and
quadrant. If you like flying the single or dual engine fast-movers, you'll
want a HOTAS throttle. If you prefer flying the multi-engine heavies,
turboprops, and GA aircraft – you'll want a quadrant. Love flying them all?
Get both for maximum realism every time you flightsim.
I
recommend the
CH Products Pro Throttle USB for HOTAS systems and the
CH Products Throttle Quadrant USB for multi-engine throttle control
realism. While dual-engine fighters and bombers such as the F-14 Tomcat,
F/A-18 Hornet, F-111, MiG-29 and A-10 Thunderbolt have twin throttle
levers, the CH Pro Throttle has only one. It simulates the single-engine
F-16 HOTAS. You can individually adjust each engine in a dual jet aircraft
by first, selecting engine one or engine two, and then using the throttle to
adjust them asynchronously. Having
Voice Buddy 3 voice control makes this a
cinch to do without fumbling with the keyboard. Or, you can also program a
button on the throttle to act as the engine selector switch.
The Pro Throttle sits on your desktop the same way a
Fighterstick does. It has a mini-joystick control plus lost of other buttons
and switches that are designed to simulate the F-16 HOTAS throttle and are
all individually programmable. For full details, read our review. You'll
find the link to it below.
CH Products Throttle Quadrant clamps to your desktop the
same way the yoke does. It has six fully programmable sets of levers and
switches. You can easily configure the quadrant for either twin or
multi-engine aircraft by simply switching the lever caps and making some
adjustments to the quadrant's software configuration. See our review for all
the details. Use the link below.
Check Out the Reviews
Use the links below to see our reviews of all the products I
recommend here.
CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB And Pro Pedals USB by
Rory Gillies
CH Product Flightsim Yoke USB by Lee
Norrie
CH Products HOTAS Controllers by
Max Merlin
CH Products Throttle Quadrant by
Andrew
Herd
CH Products Pro Throttle by Graham
Waterton
