Real Airline Pilot Tries the Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo Yoke and Throttle
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- Today we take a look at the Honeycomb Aeronautical Yoke and Throttle Quadrant for flight simulators. I'll show some features and share my thoughts!
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0:00 Honeycomb Alpha
04:29 Brave Throttles
06:58 Bravo In Use
08:18 Autopilot
09:59 Airliner Throttles
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I am a real world Airbus pilot with thousands of hours flying the real aircraft and thought it would be fun to have a look at the new detailed simulation of the longest baby 'bus by Toliss as well as the new MSFS a320 NEO. Hopefully you find this useful and it brings another perspective to your simulation. Any thoughts or comments are welcome!
This video is intended for home entertainment only and does not reflect or represent any real world aircraft or airline procedures. It is for home flight simulator enthusiasts only and has no real world application. All views expressed are my own.
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Intro Music by Fly24: • Distance Too Far. - Hry
To have a job that is your hobby, a good home setup of your hobby and a CZcams channel about your hobby... That is what I call living your life
I'm a very beginner and have spent a lot of money on different systems thinking I can save some money. I watched many videos on reviews of different systems. Not much discussion was spent on the difference what a quality yoke would be. I retired all the other systems and am now using the yoke and throttle units and can tell all of you beginners to jump right into this setup! I've gone thru all the basic and takeoff/landing training several times with each system before buying this setup and had a really hard time with them. I almost just gave up on the simulator until I got this setup and am absolutely excited with my performance now! The main problem with the other systems was in the yoke. All yokes are NOT created equal! This yoke is sooo smooth with no jerking or sudden movements in the aircraft. The takeoffs, landings, turning while climbing, etc. with this yoke are awesome! Since I have no prior experience with any flight simulator, my only challenge now is to figure out and configure all the switches. All I can say to sum up, is to say that if you are new at this, spend more money and buy this system instead of trying to fly on a budget. It will determine whether or not you pursue flight simulation! After all, you've already spent the money to buy the simulator. I just ordered the pedals so I don't have to use my keyboard for braking and slip adjustments.
Just a note about the airliner throttle reverse. You can configure so that you have to have BOTH the reverse triggers AND the throttle in reverse position for reverse to activate. The only problem is that it goes to 100% reverse I.e. below the reverse detent there is no gradient…. You can’t set say 50% reverse etc.
I've been using my Alpha Yoke for over a year and didn't realize there's a view centering button until I saw your video. Now that's funny. I've been enjoying this combo, again, for over a year so nice video.
Great review thankyou. I've just bought the Honey Comb myself and I am tempted by the quadrant
It looks great.
Great job on a thorough review and demo. Got the yoke for Christmas and the Bravo arrives tomorrow. Having a yoke is a BIG improvement over my Thrustmaster HOTAS. As a side note, my 10-keyless keyboard sits nicely on top of the yoke housing and is stable for use while flying.
Awesome video, was really waiting to have your input on those devices. And it confirmed the fact that I'll definitely buy the Alpha. Something to note however a new version of the Alpha named Alpha XPC is due hopefully Q1 22 last I heard, and this one does have Spring loaded magneto as well as better sensors. Just thought I mentioned it here.
Thanks Peter, glad you liked the video and I will keep an eye out for the new model!
I love the Alpha so much I've taken to flying the Airbus a little less as a result! Now with the Bravo levers, I can see why the TCA works better but there are some things that help: there are line markings near the levers that actually match nicely with the CL and MCT. They aren't gates, but in the Toliss you have ISCS settings to make the position on those lines match with the MCT and TOGA positions - 0.7 and 0.5 actually match very well. For non Toliss or even for flaps, you can create your own curve to match the position indicated by the markings. I have my settings such that the markings for flaps 1, 2 and 3 match the flaps in sim too, and the final detent is "extend flaps one notch" to give me full flaps. You do unfortunately need to do this differently for all planes but it works fairly well in my experience.
That throttle quadrant with Thrustmaster Boeing Yoke will likely become my setup when the PMDG 737 comes out...at least if I can get it then with the supply problems being what they are.
One thing I do know is that V1-Simulations uses the Bravo over the TCA quadrant even for Airbus planes, because they have more travel to when you use manual thrust.
I bought the Airbus throttles for the Bravo, you can program the "detents" in the FBW to line up with the white marks on the throttle for TOGA, FLEX, etc. Works pretty nice, in my non-pilot experience. You have to look at where you're moving the throttles and can't do it by touch alone though.
Thanks, I was starting to consider gettings the airbus throttle, but I won't get it if it it doesn't actually have the detens.
@@getous The Thrustmaster TCA has the detents.
It’s not that big of a problem as you do get an audible click from the sim when you reach the detent, it’s fine. (Detents would be ideal)
this is my first of your videos, and you sound exactly like every pilot I've had flying out of the UK lol
Hey. Have you tried head tracking for looking around while flying? It would help with your mention of checking if your flap inputs have engaged and it also helps with immersion. I highly recommend the track ir5.
Loved your channel for over a year - thank you so much for all your efforts to help us rookies 'fly'. Given your expertise and equipment you use/have, I highly recommend you upgrade your monitor to an ultra wide to really feel more immersive. Descending through the clouds at sunset on a final in the A320 is magical on an ultra wide.
VR is even better. 👀
check out the flight sim factory's mod to this throttle quadrant, it adds detends to flaps and to the speed brake, and it also increases the size of the throttle levers to 1/1 scale, hand crafted with 3d printing, just thought you would love that if you needed detents for flying a boeing aircraft, you can dettach and attach didn't detent covers, have a 737 setup, 747 and more...
I know nothing about flight sims or flying in general, but this was very interesting to watch. Very good video my dude.
I have the airbus pack for the bravo, they have marks on the handles that allow you to line up with markings on the main unit, works well with the A32NX. Once set in the flypad the detent's click audibly so no real issue. But if you are used to the physical click I guess it would be odd :) Oh, and you have to lift before moving the flap lever with the airbus kit.
Thanks for the info David! I'll hopefully get to try those one day soon, I do very much like the idea of the flap lever!
With regards to the pitch axis stiffness, according to Honeycomb they use a bungee to give the feel and this, apparently, beds in over time so they deliberately made it taught to account for this. I’ve had mine about 8 months and it does seem to have bedded in a bit. Hope this helps someone if they are considering buying one 👍
I was in an MD-80 Level-D sim once, and the yoke there was similar, as this was a big jet with tab elevator control. For a small GA plane the yoke is way too hard.
I waited over 6 months for my Alpha from when I ordered it and about 6 months to finally order a Bravo (which came a week later). I have not been disappointed with either of them. The quality and functionality for the price is outstanding, IMO. Even better that I got mine before the price increase. ;)
There are people doing 3D printing for covers with notches for the flaps.
Good review and what I am surprised is there is no reccomended sensitivity settings for the Yoke and Wooow The flaps on the throttle quadrant are like the Cessna I got to fly long ago and only way you knew if the flaps were down or up was to look or look at a very very small guage. Again a Good review Thank You
Waiting for them to arrive 😁
This Yoke is so cool
I love mine, Bought the airbus TCA captains pack for Airbus which is nice for Airbus. For Boeing as well as GA this is excellent. Only thing that annoys me with the Alpha/Bravo is the setup time. Takes about 5 minutes or so to setup with the clamps.
Decided to purchase both after your review, i want it for general aviation.
I have the Bravo and absolutely love it, just bought the Alpha but haven't received it yet
You have both Prop Levers backwards on your setup, that's why they are not seated all the way down.
I've the honeycomb yoke as you , i received the tca Boeing , and now , i prefer to do a Come back for honeycomb yoke 🤭😁
Would be Interesting to know what of the different FS programs the Honeycomb system would work with.
Bought these two on Black Friday sales just for the A310!
hi! are you able to use the rudders while taxiing to steer the plane? or do you have to buy external pedals or flightstick?
I bought a separate Hotas for combat flight sims, however, just finding out this has a trigger...I will be flying the P-38 a LOT in IL-2
I think they can’t have the detent because they throttle doubles for numerous aircrafts. The flaps position in the commercial airlines double as the mixture levers in a general aviation aircraft. I would guess they had to keep that in mind when designing the product they gave up some realism for function. if the throttle was a dedicated throttle for a specific aircraft I would bet honeycomb might have detents.
I’m thinking of ordering this very soon…can you setup custom views with the buttons on the yoke? Ilike setting up left 45 and left wing view and back 45 view. When I shoot a pattern having those views at the flip of the switch is golden!
Get an eye tracker, highly recommended.
Wish the Honeycomb throttle quadrant had Sessna style controls below like the Turtle Beach
What mouse do you use? its nice!
I am confused. Does the throttle have a detent for prop reverse or not? I have understood that detents are missing from the flap lever, though.
my desk has a second tray for the keyboard that extends -basically those clamps look to block out the keyboard and this leaves no room on top for the keyboard. Things to consider when getting it.
There are under-desk mounts on Etsy for both the Alpha and the Bravo. Totally frees up the desk space for your keyboard/mouse. LED light strip option. Design allows you to easily remove the controls if you want to swap in some other controller.
I'd like the mount plate to be a little bigger. Even when the thumbscrews are tightened down there's a little bit of back and forth wobble as the rear of the mount plate pivots away from the bottom of the desk. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, and I'm really glad I bought them.
Really wish they would increase the roll resistance.
Just to let you know in the start your prop pitch levers were the wrong way
Can you do a tutorial on button assignments for a320 with this set?
Sadly I no longer have this set so cannot, but maybe one day!
Your voice is chiller then my fridge
I am happy with mine
Are you using pedals with this setup? And if yes, which ones?
Thinking of buying one of these but the thing I hate is that you cannot feel the aircraft through the yoke. It's easy to trim out a real aircraft but if no feel much harder to do on these sims.
I have The Bravo too, Ive 3D printed the notches for the Flap Leaver and they work great. the only downsite is that you can only use them in 2 eng Airliners.
Yep same.
The link plz to the 3D printed file or something so I can get it plz
Any issues with the cable that connects the base to yoke over time since this cable is moving with the yoke?
Wires are breaking off inside throttle quadrant . I lost second reverser so far . Stupid thing is is I never fly jets or use reversers . Only found out wire was broken after having to reprogam quadrant settings
Have you tried the Logitech G (formerly Saitek) Flight Yoke System with included Throttle Quadrant and if so what do you think about it and how does it compare to the Honeycomb devices? I have the Logitech system and I have had to take it apart and remove the "self-centering" springs and replace them with elastic bands (LOL!!!) as to me it required too much effort to pull/push/turn the yoke making delicate inputs impossible - but I've never used a real-world yoke so have nothing to compare it too.
I have both. The Logitech sits in a corner of the closet since the honeycomb came home. No comparison at all
Quick question, I am looking to get a flight simulator, but I can't choose between honeycomb Alpha and Turtle Beach VelocityOne what one should I get?
9.44 Eh no, there’s lots more throttle quadrant options out there that have far less features and versatility that are two or more times the cost of the Bravo, with higher quality parts of course, but there’s nothing really like the Bravo that I’ve seen.
An example would be Virtual Fly’s TQ6 which has 6 axis like the Bravo but you can’t change the lever heads easily or remove a lever and has no other features except tension adjustment and that’s in the £550-650 range depending where you get it, so over twice as much. Yes there are cheaper options too, but not many and most of them have less features too plus lower quality on top, and as for the Thrustmaster airbus quadrant, well that’s just focused on two engine Airbus unsurprisingly. Not saying of course you can’t use it for other planes but it’s still less features and less versatile than the Bravo.
As for the flaps detents, you can get 3D printed inserts for various planes and a spring loaded flap lever, wouldn’t be surprised if someone makes detent inserts for the throttle too if they haven’t already, though if you get the optional Airbus levers for the Bravo they have a mechanism that prevents the throttles going past the detent that is there unless you pull the reverser levers back, and with those you can have four engine Airbus covered and the flap lever comes with spring loaded friction, which isn’t as good as a detent system but it’s closer than the Boeing default lever as you need to pull the tab up before it moves freely.
So, at the end of the day you are paying for the versatility and features included rather than a high end quality, but it’s good enough and the price point is perfectly fine.
Wow
Hi what type of computer would I need?
What processor, memory or graphics required? Could you recommend a computer from Amazon that already meets those parameters
They make 3rd party detent kits 😎
As a first purchase for a hobbyist pilot which would you choose out the Honeycomb vs Turtle Beach?
I have both and I'm very happy now with the honeycomb! The yoke is night and day difference!
for the price Honey comb maks such nice quallity
The last update NVIDIA expérience is just fantastic , i winned 15-20% of FPS above 2000 feets
Thanks I'll be sure to update the drivers!
to move the hat switch you could use your index finger.
A greast balanced view of the pros and cons of the HoneyComb yoke and throttle. I am currently using the TCA Airbus equipment being an Airbus fan but I can see the merits of the HC equipment for GA and Boeing simulation. Slowly the developers are moving to an ideal set up - if this had dual and more easily accessible hat switches and an option to activate detents on each of the throttle/flat axes then it would be close to perfect. Unfortunately, yokes are big and take desk space which is another reason to prefer side stick piloting. But I suspect everyone will have their favourites. One other issue for Airbus FBW users would be the absence of an obvious way to separate the nosewheel steering and rudder controls. Bottom line is your review has convinced me that my current equipement is the best for me right now. Thank you.
Thanks for the thoughts Richard and I'm pleased the video was useful! The desk space is a difficult compromise for lots of us without a true 'sim pit'.
CAN PLUGIN AND PLAY BOTH GA AND COMMERCIAL WITHOUT MAPPING ?
Hi need help please , when playing msfs 2020 , with any joystick , x56 or warthog when you inside plane cockpit view the view spins all time and I cannot reset view , I have reinstalled software twice and unplugged all hard ware but no joy. Outside view fine no problems , please help
I ordered the Alpha Yoke a few weeks after release, and I had to return it after a few months. The axis started jittering to the point where it was unusable. Not sure if this has been resolved in newer units.
Can this be paired with the peddles?
The switches in a real aircraft are anything but cheap, the snap action and feel is almost always top quality?
I'm getting my Alpha tomorrow. Any comments on the "cable strain" between the base and the yoke being a problem?
I haven't experienced any problems with this in more than a year of use
Not at all, doesn't even register
Can you tell how me how deep they are on your desk🎉
Regarding the springyness of the yoke you mentioned that your really not going to be suddenly releasing the yoke. Well your not... but let's not take anything off the table with my flying....
I just realized that honeycomb doesn't sell the rudder.
I play flight sim on my 50 inch TV - which my Mrs of course lovvesssssss :D
Hey is the throttle quadrant compatible with Xbox ??
Red backlights on the honeycomb yoke makes it look like a toy
You can turn those lights off.
Waiting for the Xbox XPC versions.
Hi 320 or anybody else who knows, I’m wondering if I can join up the a320 thrustmaster joystick with the honeycomb bravo throttle if anybody knows please comment thanks so much have a beautiful day!
Can you do a raw data overhead commencing ILS tutorial?
Oh, can’t you mount them under your desk?
The cons on this one were too big for me to take. Plus, my desk setup is not one which would easily accept this large setup. I didn't like the inconsistent feel on the yoke, and a lot of the switches would never get used as I like manipulation in the VC where practical (lights, autopilot..).
Thanks for the thoughts Aleksandar!
You should get the Airbus throttle additions, I've got them and they're well worth the money, especially when the A380 comes out
will this set up work on an Xbox?
Can you turn the red lights on the yoke off?
Yes, they can be turned off.
@@michalpetrilak3976 Thanks. Not ideal though. The lights come on automatically when detected. The button on the back has to be pushed a number of times to turn them off. Kinda hard to get to, in my set up. I'd like to see a firmware update that disables the auto On for the lights.
Does it works on Xbox series?
The fastest way to crash with a flight sim, engage the auto pilot... I've bent a lot of pixels!
Why do you keep reaching over with your left hand to work the throttle? Honest question!
He's holding the camera with his right hand
I just miss my cheap 20$ sticks like the "impact" or "black widow" that were totally fine to fly with and that once were in every store..
I feel like maybe we are getting closer to a face reveal?! Maybe not?? 😆😆
I’ll stick with my Virtual fly Yoko yoke….
Same, but I do have the Bravo as there’s nothing else with the versatility out there that I’ve seen.
@@WhiteHawk77 look at the Fulcrum yoke. I’ll be purchasing this when supplies are replenished
@@Cloudybox12 I already have the Yoko+, so won’t be changing till there’s better FFB options available with good support.
Airbus don't use yokes anyway. Pointless comparison
they used to
Can u give one away free to your fans
I assume Honeycomb may have paid you to make this review because you are ignoring quite improtant things on this review.
1.- There is no motorization whatsoever on the Yoke so if you are on autopilot, it will not follow the motion it should while it is being controller by the AP
2.- There is no motorization whatsoever on the Throttle quadrant, here the result is even worse than the Yoke, because, if you are on autopilot and autothrottle and need to disengage AP and regain manual control, your throttle levers will not necesarily be on the right position to match their position on the sim.
3.- There is no stick shaker on the Yoke
4.- The throttle levers as well as the air brake and flaps lever are quite small in comparison with real ones, and being that Honeycomb claims the look for realism that is quite an issue.
5.- Getting these hardware working on Prepar3D with a PMDG (the most popular one) aircraft is a real pain in the ass.
Just to mention a few things...
I was not paid to make this video, I borrowed these from a friend. I have not seen any similarly priced hardware with motorised controls/stick shakers. I know force feedback is more common in steering wheels but it seems to be a very rare thing indeed in flight sim controllers.
I’m sure such things are available for at least 10 times the price. What are you expecting for £250?
What planet do you live on? To get any sort of force feedback in a sim yoke, you're looking at at least 1200$. Why would you mention something that is absolutely clear?
@@DerVagabundli are you aware of the existance of the Logitech G25/G27/G29??? I know it is a steering wheel and not a joke, but it is fully motorized and it's quite cheaper than this joke, so... What planet do YOU live on??
@@manusoftar Yes, I do. I actually own a G27 and had a G25. Motorising a wheel is technically WAY easier and therefore cheaper than motorising a yoke, which moves in two axes, so it's in no way comparable. There simply is not a single force feedback yoke under 1000 bucks. I understand that you would like it to have FFB. We all would. But at this price point it's just not realistic and claiming somebody must be paid because they didn't point out something that is common knowledge is rather rude.