Sim Controls Hardware

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njrusty

Filing Flight Plan
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njrusty
Convinced my wife to let me start flight training after the holidays. In the meantime, would like to see if anyone has any FSX control hardware (rudder petals, yoke...etc) their not using and/or selling.

Been using the FSX for years but want to step it up with more realistic controls. Rather spend the money on lessons/flight time then sim hardware.

Thanks!!
RJ
 
I have a Saitek Pro Flight Yoke/Throttle Quadrant and Cessna Rudder Pedals that I'd be willing to sell if you can't find something for free. PM me if interested. Very lightly used.
 
I'm a big fan of most Saitek products but not their yokes, they feel too light and springy. I bit the bullet and purchased a PFC (precision flight controls) yoke on eBay wonderfully heavy and smooth. It has a very small dead zone but much smaller than Saitek or CH flight yokes.

But the Saitek Cessna or Pro Combat rudder pedals are fantastic. They are wider in stance than real aircraft but no biggie. The TPM (I fly cessnas so no throttle quad for me) I was concerned about since it looks cheap and plasticy but I'm really impressed with it. It's heavy and smooth. I'd love a vernier on the mixture an throttle but only really high-end sims have that.

My radios are Go Flight. Everything off eBay of course...
 
I have the CH Products yoke & rudder pedals gathering dust.

New prices on Amazon appear to be a smidge over $200 for these.

I'll ask $150 with shipping to CONUS address included. PayPal accepted.

Note: A powered USB hub is recommended. Not required, but I got noted improvements in performance once I employed that.
 
I'll endorse the Saitek Cessna yoke and pedals. Been using them for the last year with no issues. If you want to get really nerdy pick up an Oculus Rift DK2, it's pretty amazing.
 
If you are in for spending the bucks, I highly recommend PFC gear.
https://www.flypfc.com/?/products/desktop-yokes

I have had gone through one CH and two saitek yokes over the years and nothing comes close to the precision and feel of these yokes, quadrants and pedals. I figured I am in it for the long haul so it's been a great upgrade.

Pricey for sure but worth the quality.
Benjamin

IMG_6007_001.jpg
 
Looks great, what is the computer configuration needed for these to work great? I have a CH Yoke and it works great with my low-end PC (Windows XP,1GB RAM). I saw in youtube this guy had a sensor of some sort attached over his head-set and he could look around the cockpit and you could basically have the peripheral vision on the simulator with 2 monitors(1 on left,1 on right).
 
davef22 said:
Looks great, what is the computer configuration needed for these to work great? I have a CH Yoke and it works great with my low-end PC (Windows XP,1GB RAM). I saw in youtube this guy had a sensor of some sort attached over his head-set and he could look around the cockpit and you could basically have the peripheral vision on the simulator with 2 monitors(1 on left,1 on right).
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You wouldn't be able to run the more advanced sims with this setup. An older version of MS Flight Sim would work for you and your stick should work. The head motion stuff you're talking about is called Headtracker and you wear a little gizmo on your head that works with your camera to tell the direction your looking and changes your view in the game accordingly. The two monitor setup stinks because you block the view directly infront of you so you end of off centering it and then you're only looking at one screen.

The Oculus Rift DK2 I got a few months ago, coupled with Lockheeds flight sim, new video card, pedals, yoke, ect is pretty immersive. Here's a video of a guy using an older Oculus Rift but he has a fancy flight chair setup in a rotary configuration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSZ-KUuhI-A
 
Nothing spectacular is needed to make the PFC controls to work right. They are your standard USB connection. They are just solid cast parts with awesome internal mechanisms. There are no sticking points of the yoke movement. I am currently flying with Lockheed Martin P3D.

I am currently running Intel 2700k (i7), 8GB ram, 680 GTX (4 gb) graphics card and solid state drives. This is not very monstrous by today's standards. Middle of the road actually but current. I build my own PCs and just continually upgrade the parts and pieces as I see the need.

The sensor you are referring too is TrackIR - I always fly with it and would never fly without it. Ever. It's entirely too immersive to not have the TrackIR. If you want to take your simming to a new level, I highly recommend the TrackIR

http://www.amazon.com/TrackIr-Premi...qid=1412688613&sr=8-1&keywords=track+ir+5+pro

Benjamin
 
Bman. said:
Nothing spectacular is needed to make the PFC controls to work right. They are your standard USB connection. They are just solid cast parts with awesome internal mechanisms. There are no sticking points of the yoke movement. I am currently flying with Lockheed Martin P3D.

I am currently running Intel 2700k (i7), 8GB ram, 680 GTX (4 gb) graphics card and solid state drives. This is not very monstrous by today's standards. Middle of the road actually but current. I build my own PCs and just continually upgrade the parts and pieces as I see the need.

The sensor you are referring too is TrackIR - I always fly with it and would never fly without it. Ever. It's entirely too immersive to not have the TrackIR. If you want to take your simming to a new level, I highly recommend the TrackIR

http://www.amazon.com/TrackIr-Premi...qid=1412688613&sr=8-1&keywords=track+ir+5+pro

Benjamin
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Nice setup you have.

For simming I have a 2500k overclocked to 4.6, gtx 670 4gb my hardware is saitek yoke with the rubber band mods ( removed detent) saitek rudder and throttle quad, I have track ir as well and find it a must have for simming.

I would like to get PFC hardware like you have

Oh one last thing. I highly recommend a2asimulation line of GA planes for fsx or p3d I have the Cherokee 180 and the 172 and these are the most realistic Sim planes I have used.
 
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For sure on the A2A planes - I am starting my training in a PA-28-180 (Archer II). The A2A 180 Cherokee is about as close as I am going to get for similarity. I have been flying that plan exclusively the past couple of months.

Benjamin

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My PFC yoke is an old Cirrus model. It has a game port but I purchased a game port to USB converter and it works fine.

I can't recommend the PFC hardware enough.
 
njrusty said:
Convinced my wife to let me start flight training after the holidays. In the meantime, would like to see if anyone has any FSX control hardware (rudder petals, yoke...etc) their not using and/or selling.

Been using the FSX for years but want to step it up with more realistic controls. Rather spend the money on lessons/flight time then sim hardware.

Thanks!!
RJ
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Don't bother, FSX is good for learning procedure but crap for learning control.
 
I use Prepar3D when I'm at home. I've said this before and I'll say it again.

A simulator is TERRIBLE for learning the feel and movements needed to fly an aircraft. It's not even close. I use a $30 joystick because I can't stand the yoke/rudder pedal combinations.

A simulator is GREAT at teaching you scans, procedures, and some concepts. I still use it to keep somewhat "current" on instrument procedures, navigation, arcs, holds, etc.

Stalls and steep turns? No.

You will also tend to fixate on the instruments when actually flying instead of keeping your head outside the airplane. Don't get into that habit.
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
I use Prepar3D when I'm at home. I've said this before and I'll say it again.

A simulator is TERRIBLE for learning the feel and movements needed to fly an aircraft. It's not even close. I use a $30 joystick because I can't stand the yoke/rudder pedal combinations.

A simulator is GREAT at teaching you scans, procedures, and some concepts. I still use it to keep somewhat "current" on instrument procedures, navigation, arcs, holds, etc.

Stalls and steep turns? No.

You will also tend to fixate on the instruments when actually flying instead of keeping your head outside the airplane. Don't get into that habit.
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100% agree. I generally tell people it's great for procedures but you can't mimic a real plane. It's advanced chair flying. I'll use my maneuver procedures and do the movements but not really worry about the PTS limits.

It however can help with some of the hand eye coordination stuff if you've never touched an airplane and don't really understand the controls.

On the A2A planes the realism comes with the things breaking and having to go in the hanger to fix/adjust stuff. As well as the detail they put in the virtual cockpit and sounds.
 
Second the recommendation for PFC gear and Track IR. Sims are well worth the money for instrument work.
 
skynewbie said:
Second the recommendation for PFC gear and Track IR. Sims are well worth the money for instrument work.
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Yep, but he doesn't have a PP yet, and Sims are great at teaching bad habits which cost real money to break in a real airplane. Instrument work is all about procedure, that is where sims excel.
 
Henning said:
Don't bother, FSX is good for learning procedure but crap for learning control.
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Agreed. I was reading a post by a CFI on one of the flightsim forums that he feels for pre solo students that flight simming can cause issues.

I am a student pilot myself and my instructor is happy with my progress, do any of you think I should stop simming until I finish my ppl?
 
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mikea76 said:
Agreed. I was reading a post by a CFI on one of the flightsim forums that he feels for pre solo students that flight simming can cause issues.
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I leaned to Flight Sim after I learned to fly, very different skill sets and knowing how to fly inhibited my ability to use a flight sim because when things went wonky, I would revert to flying skills which would lead to a loss of control. The rule of Primacy is one of the most important in learning to fly, and f you learn the wrong thing first, it can come back to bite your ass when you get into a bind.
 
mikea76 said:
Agreed. I was reading a post by a CFI on one of the flightsim forums that he feels for pre solo students that flight simming can cause issues.

I am a student pilot myself and my instructor is happy with my progress, do any of you think I should stop simming until I finish my ppl?
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Do you feel it causes you issues? My flying performance hasn't been adversely impacted through out my training. I'm progressing at what seems to be a normal rate all while playing the game and flying real planes.
 
OkieAviator said:
Do you feel it causes you issues? My flying performance hasn't been adversely impacted through out my training. I'm progressing at what seems to be a normal rate all while playing the game and flying real planes.
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I don't feel it has, when I took my first lesson I was stunned by how different flying a real plane felt so I don't think I carried over much from flight simming
 
OkieAviator said:
Do you feel it causes you issues? My flying performance hasn't been adversely impacted through out my training. I'm progressing at what seems to be a normal rate all while playing the game and flying real planes.
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Well, you really have no way of knowing. And it's difficult even for your CFI.

How would you know the rate at which you would have progressed without the simming? Not someone else who may have different talents. You.

As for the question this was responding to, if there is damage due to the sim, it's probably already done.

I did some simming prior to flight training. I see it as a tiny benefit, and some big risks. I did learn how to handle a VOR and that I need to trim all the time from the sim (from what I understand, that second lesson is a bit unusual). But those are simply not what I spent my time on. The big one was getting the flare and touchdown, and the sim did absolutely nothing for that. In fact, it trained in zero rudder, which was a really bad thing.
 
Lost me... all I know is based on hours I seemed to be tracking fine. Polishing my checkride at 40+ hours. Now if you're saying that if I hadn't played video games maybe I would be doing this at 35 hours or 60 hours... well you're correct, no way of knowing that.

Interesting you brought up flare and touchdown. When I went to a 152 I was completely off on my flare and approach control. I literally spent maybe 4 hours over the weekend doing flight sim pattern work and landings to try and get some type of visual muscle memory to it. Now it wasn't a scientific study so I can't say for certain if it helped, but on my very next flight my first landing was solid.

My problem was I was trying to apply too much back pressure too fast causing me to balloon. So maybe the sim just calmed me down a bit, maybe it was a Christmas miracle, we'll never know but I believe it helped.
 
Default flight Sim stuff is complete crap but I would like to see some of the high time guys try out a high quality add on such as the a2a 17
 
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Learned many fundamentals in the sim before flying full size.

X-wind landings, slips, shorts and softs, slow flight, stalls, engine outs and of course, VFR XC navigation. Did them all with a sim in conjunction with r/w flight training.

Not all sims are created equal.
 
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coma24 said:
Learned many fundamentals in the sim before flying full size.

X-wind landings, slips, shorts and softs, slow flight, stalls, engine outs and of course, VFR XC navigation. Did them all with a sim in conjunction with r/w flight training.

Not all sims are created equal.
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What sim and addons do you use?
 
X-Plane. When I was practicing those tasks, I wasn't using any add-ons. Since then I've added PilotEdge into the mix.

For controls, I'm using a $29 joystick and a $150 set of rudder pedals. They don't have the feedback of real controls, but the fundamentals are the there, and the cross control behaviors are there.
 
For my PPL, I found SIM work helped ingrain procedures as well as aircraft configuration/power settings. Basic navigation, VOR, NDB, etc.

While I never really utilized the sim for PTS maneuvers, I did use it to practice setting up the aircraft for slow flight and different stall configurations.

I knew going into it that my visual skills would need to be refined in real-world flight and I made sure not to fixate. Now that I'm working on my IR it is invaluable esp since I have an Emuteq Garsim 530 which is about the coolest thing ever!
 
I still use FSX bc RealtyXP isn't supported on X-Plane and Prepar3d but I would love to make the switch because my quad-core struggles with the FSX architecture.
 
I ended up purchasing Saitek stuff. I did a mod on the yoke so it feels less like a toy. It involves removing 2 of the springs inside and replacing one of them with a rubberband.
 
labbadabba said:
I still use FSX bc RealtyXP isn't supported on X-Plane and Prepar3d but I would love to make the switch because my quad-core struggles with the FSX architecture.
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Might want to look at SimAVIO for X-Plane. I think it can drive the emuteq and there GPS implementations are nice.

Also, X-Plane 10.30 as a Garmin 530 implementation that sucks considerably less than it has in the past. Not saying it's good, or anywhere near complete, it's just less terrible.
 
coma24 said:
X-Plane. When I was practicing those tasks, I wasn't using any add-ons. Since then I've added PilotEdge into the mix.

For controls, I'm using a $29 joystick and a $150 set of rudder pedals. They don't have the feedback of real controls, but the fundamentals are the there, and the cross control behaviors are there.
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I am using P3d v2.4 but maybe I will give x-plane another go.

I have been on pilotedge before, in my opinion as a student it is great for getting used to talking on the radio and learning how to interact with ATC. I have tried Vatsim as well and it is not the same, in my opinion vatsim is not really usefully for training.
 
I finally broke the ice last night and finally logged 1.5 hours. I've gotta say that my years and years past simming experience helped. Procedurally, things went right in order and I felt like I knew where I was going.

My PFC flight controls are surprisingly similar to the feel of the Archer II I flew last night. The PFC controls might be a slightly lighter input force than actual plane. Another difference is the ability to feel the yoke pressure drop while trimming.

Of course there is nothing that can compensate for the forces you feel while flying versus chair flying but overall I can say that my current simulator setup is not holistically different than my flight yesterday. The A2A Cherokee does a great job replicating. I am also on P3D v2.4, Active Sky Next, Latitude etc. I fly on Vatsim and have done a lot of practice over in the LA Basin area. Their controller are ok but I am going to seriously consider PilotEdge.

Benjamin
 
Benjamin, you probably already know the key differences, but just in case...with PE you'll be making a lot more frequency changes (there is no controller list), and ATC is going to be there from 8am-11pm, period. There's also no text, it's all voice (high quality voice, at that). Lastly, there's a ton of VFR traffic to see and avoid in Class E/G airspace (the drones).

Have to concur with you on the PFC flight controls, they're the best I've ever tried.
 
I am sitting here listening to the PE receiver. I will have to give the trial a go for sure.
Benjamin
 
PE is fun to mess with. Some of the people are helpful and understand that users aren't always real pilots and/or using it as a learning tool and help you out a bit. I've had a few though that are mouthy and condescending.
 
Funny you say that - I was listening yesterday and heard one of the controllers being pretty condescending to a fella that had intermittent mic / receiver issues so he wasn't hearing the calls. It was that big of a deal but I noticed.

Benjamin
 
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