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Which Yoke?

Mach3DS

Mach3DS

Charter Member
Ok, fellow simmers...I need a Yoke...not a joystick, a Yoke. My budget is about ~$250. I know enough that I don't want Saitek. I would like one that gives 90 degree rotations. Eclipse owners? Should I wait for the Honey comb offering?
 
I have both a joystick and a yoke, the latter is an old CH product. It's OK for what it does, but I guess I'm spoiled by the TM Warthog joystick and each time I grab the yoke I could start a rant about it's wobbly plastic feeling and imprecise centering.

So I'm also eager to learn what people come up with here!


[Edit: The Honeycomb yoke looks great, and I also like the variety of switches it has. Also the Honecomb throttle quadrant. I made a mental note! ]

Cheers,
Mark
 
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i went from the ch products yoke,the newest one,to the saitek and i love it,im curious as to why the saitek is out of the question,what dont you like about it?..again im just curious.
 
In defence of Saitek, I have to say I have the Cessna Yoke and am very pleased with its performance. It was way ahead of the cheaper version. Possibly not rwadily available now that Logitech have taken over the brand.
 
Funny that you mention that. That Cessna version was the one I was entertaining. However I've not seen it available in recent months. The reason I said no to Saitek (the non-cessna version) is because I read that it is not fully 90 degrees rotatable? Meaning you can't cove the yoke full left or Right to the 90 degree position (or very close to it)? I heard that maybe the CH Eclipse does move to the 90's? The new Honey Comb will move to the 90's....but it's unclear how long it will be until it comes to market.
 
ok,my saitek doesnt go 90 degrees.but why would you need that in an aircraft that would a yoke,well i can see it with the P-38,but in normal GA flying,is there a need for 90* or more?..im asking to learn not to argue.
 
000rick000 said:
you can't cove the yoke full left or Right to the 90 degree position (or very close to it)? I heard that maybe the CH Eclipse does move to the 90's? The new Honey Comb will move to the 90's....
Click to expand...
Not sure if the 180deg movement is a real advantage.
Most of the time the main problem in flightsims is the sensitivity of the pitch axis due to the short joystick/yoke travel and all desk mounted yokes have a way too short travel along the pitch axis.
IMO this results in very badly harmonized pitch/roll behaviour because pitch sensitivity is still way too sensitive and roll sensitivity is greatly reduced with a 180deg yoke movement.
Btw,
on the 767 you can rotate the wheel 90deg L/R, but full flight controls deflection occurs already at the 45° position ;)​
 
Are you sure about the 767? I could see max spolier deflection occurring by then, but aileron too? I can say for certain that's not the case on the 737 anyway, because there have been many times I've needed more than 45 degrees of yoke travel for the required roll response.

To answer the advantage about further travel in the sim, it's a sensitivity issue. If full control deflection is reached at the halfway point of 45 degrees, then the yoke is twice as sensitive as it should be in roll control. This is usually compensated for by creating a curve in the control sensitivity where the ailerons are deadened near neutral, but then get rapidly more sensitive with further deflection. Feels weird, very unnatural. I've never tried a sim yoke I liked, but this new honeycomb IS interesting, glad it was mentioned.
 
What it comes down to for me, is that all aircraft with a Yoke that I have flown in IRL, have 90 deg travel. I don't want to introduce "bad habits" of muscle memory by getting used to something that is not in the real aircraft (at least the aircraft I fly or have flown). So for me, it's a must.
 
I had the Saitek yoke (non Cessna) many moons ago. It felt better and was larger than the CH version, but it quit on me with an electronic defect 1 year and 2 weeks after I bought it. Bought a second one, which quit in the same way after a few months again.
Maybe it was just bad luck, but that keeps me away from them as far as controls go.


Cheers,
Mark
 
Just an observation, but in all the real world aircraft with yokes that I've flown I never got NEAR 90 degree rotation while I was in the air.
 
Me either, but, I do when I'm taxiing with quartering head/tail winds. I just really want it to hit the 90's, so that I'm using the same muscle memory for all aspects of the flight, including run up in GA aircraft with the flight control checks...and I'm willing to pay for it. So, if there's another one out there that I'm not aware of, please, anyone, let me know! Thanks guys!
 
I just checked my Saitek Cessna Yoke, and it does go 90 degrees in each direction, 180 degrees full motion left-right. Just to let you know.
 
000rick000 said:
What it comes down to for me, is that all aircraft with a Yoke that I have flown in IRL, have 90 deg travel. I don't want to introduce "bad habits" of muscle memory by getting used to something that is not in the real aircraft (at least the aircraft I fly or have flown). So for me, it's a must.
Click to expand...
This doesn't make sense if the pitch axis is way too short when compared to real yoke pitch movement. To be acceptable realistic both axis need a similar amount of travel.
The argument of muscle memory would only make sense if you would buy a yoke with control loading (and realistic pitch axis movement)

@stearmandriver. Yes, ailerons too. Boeing tried to make the 767 to 'feel' as maneuverable as the 757, that's why they used the reduced travel.
 
Make sense to you or not, I want 90 degrees of travel. Kind of a moot point since this is my preference. Sounds like it's not a factor for you, and that's ok. To each their own. This is something I'm looking for. And you may be right. I may not be able to find a realistic Yoke.... If that's end up being the case I simply won't buy.
 
000rick000 said:
Sounds like it's not a factor for you, and that's ok. To each their own. This is something I'm looking for. And you may be right. I may not be able to find a realistic Yoke.... If that's end up being the case I simply won't buy.
Click to expand...
It is a factor. The point is that you will not be able to find an acceptable realistic yoke for $250, especially if you are a RW pilot and know how a yoke moves and feels.
 
bbrz said:
This doesn't make sense if the pitch axis is way too short when compared to real yoke pitch movement. To be acceptable realistic both axis need a similar amount of travel.
The argument of muscle memory would only make sense if you would buy a yoke with control loading (and realistic pitch axis movement)

@stearmandriver. Yes, ailerons too. Boeing tried to make the 767 to 'feel' as maneuverable as the 757, that's why they used the reduced travel.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I've always heard the 76 is light in roll compared to the 75, so I asked a buddy on it. According to him (and his FH), the 76 has only 2/3 the available control yoke deflection of the 75 in roll; he says it feels like about the 45 degree point. So it sounds like the wheel doesn't rotate 90 degrees. Not trying to quibble with ya, I was just honestly surprised that a manufacturer would design an aircraft with pointless yoke deflection, that'd be something I'd never seen before.

As far as the actual thread topic, my personal opinion is that it's not worth getting too picky about exact control feel / muscle memory, simply because the sim hasn't yet been invented that *precisely* mimics a real airplane anyway (up to and including level D sims used for airman certification). You will always fly a real airplane differently than a simulator... or you won't fly it very well ;-).

I definitely understand your desire for as much accuracy as possible, and I'm not trying to change your mind - your standards are yours and you have every right to purchase what you want. I'm just offering an instructor perspective in case you're concerned about negative training because of different control feel - it won't cause you a problem. No more than flying two different airplanes will. As a training tool, these sims are far more useful for practicing a scan and instrument procedures anyway; its not like you're going to perfect xwind landings or rolling circles on a desktop sim...

I'm with you that none of the usual suspects for a yoke fulfilled what I was looking for either... I'll be watching for that Honeycomb release. Best of luck in your search!
 
stearmandriver said:
Interesting. I've always heard the 76 is light in roll compared to the 75, so I asked a buddy on it. According to him (and his FH), the 76 has only 2/3 the available control yoke deflection of the 75 in roll; he says it feels like about the 45 degree point. So it sounds like the wheel doesn't rotate 90 degrees. Not trying to quibble with ya, I was just honestly surprised that a manufacturer would design an aircraft with pointless yoke deflection, that'd be something I'd never seen before.
Click to expand...
The 767 yoke turns much further than 45deg. Approximately close to 90deg. Check this scene: https://youtu.be/jJa-I_7zs_c?t=207
Why should Boeing use different yoke limits on the 757 and 767? It's not pointless because 757/767 is a single type rating and it's a good idea to keep things identical as much as possible.
Nobody cares and most 757/767 pilots don't know this fact.
I didn't know about this fact either and once I found out it didn't change the way I flew the 767.
​
It wouldn't make sense that a 767 should actually be lighter in roll than a 757.
 
Yes, you're all correct in a different ways. I think I'm going to wait and see what emerges with this Honey comb product. Perhaps my wants, don't really outwiegh my needs....as far as enjoyment will be concerned....Thanks for the diverse perspectives! I knew I was in for them! That's why I come here..
 
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