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New to Forum - Stick vs. Yoke control for "training"


Moebius01

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I made the mistake of typing of my first post while I was on a conference call and multi-tasking a bit, and it disappeared. I'm not seeing anything about initial post moderation, so I'm assuming I just missed something while being distracted. If not, and the first post is going to show up, this one can be deleted. That said, let's try this again, here's the Cliff's Notes version. TLDR; go to the last paragraph.

 

I was taking flight training when I was in school many, many moons ago (I'd wager my David Clark headset is older than a lot of folks on here :) ), and unfortunately ran out of funding when I was probably just a couple hours short of a private license check ride. Life gets in the way. Fast forward to 2020, I've built a new PC with pretty solid power, then I came across the hype for MS Flight Sim 2020, and decided to pre-order with the hopes that it will light a spark and eventually get me back in the air. Now, even as amazing as it looks, I'm not expecting MSFS to take the place of all of the training, but I'm hoping I can use it to re-learn some of the procedures, instrument scans, patterns, all that fun stuff. I say learn as opposed to re-familiarize myself as I'm sure tons of procedures, not to mention avionics have changed in nearly 30 years. That brings me here today.

 

I know I won't be able to do this with any effectiveness using mouse and keyboard for controls, but as we're currently going on a single salary plus paying tuition while my wife goes back to finish her schooling, I don't have a ton of case to drop on controls or equipment for at while at least. If not, based on my early research, I'd probably be looking at a Honeycomb yoke paired to either the Honeycomb throttle quadrant if it was out, or the Saitek if not, plus whatever rudder pedals seem like the best bang for the buck. Budget-wise for now though, I can't justify plopping down that kind of cash, so a stick combined with throttle and maybe add pedals later seems a more likely option. My concern comes with wondering if a stick is going to mess with muscle memory or the like. All of my training way back when was in a Cessna 172, and I imagine when I'm able to get back in the air it will be something similar, so I've only ever used a yoke aircraft in the real world.

 

So with that in mind, does anyone around here use a stick for sim but yoke for real world, and do you ever have to think much about it, or have any trouble switching (especially if using the same aircraft in a sim)?

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Good to see a fellow Memphian on here. Welcome!

 

I don't have any idea about any decently priced flight stick/throttle combos. I'm sure you'll get a number of suggestions though. I had the Saitek X52 some years ago but gave it away to a fellow simmer. Hope you find one that fits your budget :)

Edited by av8tor98
correction

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My concern comes with wondering if a stick is going to mess with muscle memory or the like.

 

Using a stick should be just fine. As far into training as you said you got, you've already built a pretty good muscle memory with the yoke, so using a stick on the sim won't do much to that. And certainly by the time you get another hour or two in the Cessna that muscle memory will be completely restored.

 

As to switching, my real world flying was initially yoke, but I didn't have much trouble when I first hopped into a Super Cub (stick). And while I had a bit of problem flying from the right seat when I was working on my CFI that, too, became second nature. So for the rest of my flying years (many) it didn't much matter whether I was front seat, rear seat, left seat or right seat, it was just another airplane.

 

So you can expect to quickly reach that point, too. So get the inexpensive stick and whatever fits your budget and your needs and don't be concerned about losing muscle memory.

 

Larry N.

As Skylab would say:

Remember: Aviation is NOT an exact Science!

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My initial training was in a glider. With a stick. THEN I learned to drive. At about the same time, I was learning powered flight in a Citabria. Again, a stick.

 

In my little pea brain, aircraft are flown with a stick, cars are driven with steering wheel, and never the twain shall meet. Once again, just the way my brain got programmed early.

A stick just seems to me more intuitive to the way an aircraft moves. Having said that, it seems to me there's a reason aerobatic craft, and that includes military fighters (Not the P-38 :) ), are all flown with a stick, and the "trash haulers", cargo planes, heavy transport, and so on, are flown with a yoke. Why? I dunno. It just seems like if you need rapid, accurate, sensitive response to the control inputs, you need a stick.

 

Again, I have no references, no studies to quote, anything like that. I'm sure Larry has a much better insight into all this. All this is just observation of the world around me. For what it is worth, which aint much.

I'll keep flying with a stick, and driving with a steering wheel, though. :D

Whatever you decide to use, have fun with it!

Pat☺

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

Had a thought...then there was the smell of something burning, and sparks, and then a big fire, and then the lights went out! I guess I better not do that again!

Sgt, USMC, 10 years proud service, Inactive reserve now :D

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. . . it seems to me there's a reason aerobatic craft, and that includes military fighters (Not the P-38 :) ), are all flown with a stick, and the "trash haulers", cargo planes, heavy transport, and so on, are flown with a yoke. Why? I dunno. It just seems like if you need rapid, accurate, sensitive response to the control inputs, you need a stick.

Pat☺

 

True about the stick, but with a big, heavy four-engined bird with unpowered controls it can take some serious muscle power to work the control surfaces, and a "wheel"makes more sense mechanically than a stick. Nowadays, with servos and hydraulics that is no longer an issue, which is why Airbus can get away with side sticks in their planes.

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
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Thanks all. At this point, barring something unexpected, I'm starting to lean towards the TCA Airbus edition for a stick (seems to be getting some good reviews as an entry model that feels a bit more premium in the action) paired with a Saitek throttle. Eventually, I'd add rudder, and then hopefully one day grab a Honeycomb yoke to let me have the flexibility of either stick or yoke.

 

Now, to the important research. Can a 49' active USB extension cable handle the controls along with a keyboard and mouse so I could run a cable to the theater across from the office and run flight sim on the projector. :)

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Posts of new members are proof-read by a moderator before they appear. Can take up to a day or so before the posts show up.

 

Not much point buying anything yet. Buy and install a sim first. Then get an inexpensive stick like the logitech 3d. Plenty advanced and stirdy.

Then fly it, see if you like it and with gained experience, decide what controls might suit you best.

 

Be careful mixing game-simming and real flying. What flight sim games teach you about real flying is complacency. In flightsim there's no worrying about staying alive. Flying in a sim is very relaxed. You're less intensive with the cockpit scan. You worry less or not at all about oncoming or crossing traffic. Etc.

Before you know you take that relaxedness with you into a real cockpit. Or getting used to the slow and minimal cockpit scan leading to being less good at the real world one. (just like a marathon runner gets less good at sprinting.).

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
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I'm fortunate to have a CHProducts set of pedals & yoke, as well as a cheapish joystick.

For immersion's sake I prefer using the correct controls for whatever plane I'm flying. A stick with a Cessna? Not really. It's really not that expensive, but it really improves the immersion.

Robin

Cape Town, South Africa

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