I have long argued that an elaborate set of flight controls and other accessories isn’t necessary to make effective use of PC-based flight simulations. Flying is mostly a head game, not an exercise of finely-honed motor skills.
But if you’re the type of pilot—virtual or otherwise—who can’t suspend disbelief and get into the game without at least a simulacrum of a conventional yoke and engine controls, until recently you’ve had only one inexpensive choice, the CH Products Flight Sim Yoke. (Companies like Precision Flight Controls make yokes that resemble real airplane hardware, but prices for those accessories start at real airplane part prices—around $500.)
Saitek released the Pro Flight line in mid-2007, and apparently the accessories have proven popular. The units were on back order in early November 2007. The devices compete directly with the CH Products offerings (Amazon advertises the yoke for $149.95; you can buy the yoke and throttle quadrant together for just under $200).
Saitek has often shown more design flair than other makers of hardware, and the Pro Flight System components look sleek and solid. They’re made (mostly) of plastic, but they come close to re-creating that real airplane look and feel at about one-fifth the cost of high-end accessories.
(In fact, the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System and Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant incorporate many of the main features and subtle touches that I specified for a flight yoke several years ago at Microsoft. But the Sidewinder hardware team decided not to proceed with the project, and Microsoft no longer makes joysticks and similar hardware for PCs. The company now focuses on controllers for the XBox.)
The Saitek yoke offers a typical set of basic features, plus some extra touches not available from the competition. The core functions include:
- Elevator and aileron axes on yoke
- POV “hat switch”
- 6 additional buttons for such functions as elevator trim, operating the landing gear and flaps, wheel brakes, and switching modes (you can easily reassign these functions; see below)
- USB connection to the PC
- Compatibility with Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane
- Support for Windows XP and Vista
