26.9.2020

Lockdown giveth and lockdown taketh away. It giveth me loads of free time to mess around on a flight simulator, but, as a freelance corporate filmmaker, it taketh away the income to pay for it all! Having said that . . .I've casually used flight sims for many years, but with the release of FS2020 I decided to do things properly and actually learn what I was doing. There's only so many times you can fly under Tower Bridge . . .To take it seriously you absolutely need to learn about radio navigation. VFR flying is great fun, and FS2020's stunning scenery realism makes that so much easier, but VFR isn't always an option. When the weather closes in, or you're flying over water,you have to turn to the navigation instruments to get where you want to go, as well as getting help from ATC.One of the things I loathe doing is using a mouse to turn and press knobs and buttons on screen, so this radio stack was high on my list of add-ons to buy. I can already control flaps, pitch trim etc with buttons on the excellent Honeycomb Alpha yoke (and eventually I will be able to control those things plus autopilot and more with my pre-ordered Honeycomb Bravo throttle - I currently have the Saitek quadrant). I also have ignition, lights, avionics and master battery on the yoke and I've bought a second hand Thrustmaster rudder pedal assembly. As a first pass for a home 'cockpit' I think I now have covered every important base. Anything extra (eg a second or third radio stack, individual instruments, etc) will be very-nice-to-haves but with a finite budget they're out of reach just now. Oh, the other thing I have just discovered is the Simionic G1000 simuator for the iPad, which integrates beautifully with FS2020 and also responds to changes from the Logitech radio stack, which is great.So, the radio stack itself:Well, it certainly looks the part! At least it does if you are flying entry level aircraft such as the Cessna 152 (which is my learning airplane of choice). Of course it isn't identical to a genuine Bendix/King radio stack, but the general style is the same and you do feel as though you're using a real radio (so says someone who has never used a Cessna radio stack. Real pilots may have a different view!). The mainly plastic construction seems quite sturdy and overall build quality is good. The knobs and buttons have a firm feel to them (actually, the knobs to change between COM1, COM2, NAV1 etc might be a little TOO firm, but that could be my 57 year old fingers struggling.)The display is bright and clear, although I have read a couple of other complaints that the brightness on individual LCD bars varies across the display. Yes, that is true, but for me it didn't spoil my enjoyment and to be honest I hadn't noticed it until I was told!For now I have mounted the radio on top of my Honeycomb yoke, as you can see in the picture. Fitting was easy and only took a few minutes (there are seven screws to turn with a supplied hex key). It's great that there seems to be a standard for mounting between manufacturers. There are several mounting options and eventually, if I remain serious about all this, I might knock up an instrument panel out of plywood and install the radio to the right of the yoke. I'd also think seriously about having two additional radio stacks, so I could dedicate one to COM channels, one to NAV channels and one to the transponder. Again, finances are preventing that for now - as well as the fact that I am waiting to see what Microsoft/Asobo does about multi-monitor support (true multi-monitor support - not using NVidia Surround, which is horribly distorted).Software installation was easy - just follow the instructions on the Logitech drivers page. You also need to install and run a special plugin that allows the stack to talk to FS2020. This must be run before starting the sim. Occasionally I get a message saying that an instance of the plugin is already running. I haven't worked out exactly when this does and doesnt happen as it appears to be random, but it doesn't seem to affect anything.I have everything plugged into a cheap four port powered hub which is also on a USB extension cable - all works fine.In use, the stack is extremely responsive to changes in the SIM and vice versa. When given instructions to change frequency or transponder code, as soon as you make the change, the option to tune the radio in the on-screen ATC panel disappears, as it recognises you have made the change manually. In fact, the only time you now need to touch the radio stack is to acknowledge ATC calls and for other non comms related activity (eg choosing an airport, requesting vectors etc). I have bound the big red button on the yoke to Radios/Option 1 (which is always the option to acknowledge ATC calls) so I don't have to touch the keyboard so much.So, any niggles? Not really, other than the two things I have already mentioned:1. Now that I have been told about the LED issue I can't unsee it! It really doesn't have any effect on how I use the radio stack, nor my enjoyment of it, other than me noticing it every now and then.2. I don't know how stiff they are in the real world, but I found the channel knobs just a tad too stiff. Perhaps they really are like that in order to prevent accidentally changing channel, and if so then all good.At time of writing I only have one 'that would have been nice' observation: a volume control would have been great to be able to listen to the morse code signal from beacons, as well as to turn ATC up or down in different conditions.And that's it. Until I have fully mastered the use of the radio I don't really know if there are any other shortcomings or missing features. For me, as it stands, and given my current level of expertise (I'd say advanced beginner) this radio stack is almost perfect, and a fantastic addition to my growing cockpit. From the point of view of realism and immersion, it adds another layer of both. It means I am using the mouse less and not having to zoom in to the on screen instruments so much.I haven't tried this unit with X-Plane 11 yet, but I see no reason why it should not perform just as well.In summary, if you're serious about your flight simulator exerience then this is an essential purchase. I highly recommend it.EDIT: I bought mine at £89.99 in September 2020 - I now see the price has gone up rather a lot! Between £135 and £171 plus shipping. It seems lockdown demand has outstripped availability and a few gougers are taking advantage. That's a shame. Currys still have them at the MRP.

26.7.2017

Never owned pedals before, just used a twisty stick to control rudder in my air-sim type games.I flew solo back in the day, and had experience in flying various light aircraft including a glider, and once these were setup properly with my VR headset, and stick, it just brings it all back for me. Sure you don't have the vibrations, the smells, but this is as close to being there, short of being there once setup.They also work well for driving games, minus a clutch, because they not only slide side-to-side (that's the rudder control) but you can also press them down individually (toe brakes in aircraft control, but easily accelerator/brake in a car/lorry/bus type sim). I have used them in eurotruck2 to do just that,

30.10.2020

I've got back into flight simming after an absence of some years. When I left the simming world it pretty much was a case of Flight Simulator or very early days X-Plane or warbird sims. There was peripheral hardware available, but it was very expensive, and while I enjoyed the hobby I wasn't so smitten that I wanted to spend shedloads of cash on it. Basically, I had a joystick.Enter Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. This has changed my entire perspective on flight simming and I am very much back in the fold. This time I want to really learn what I'm doing, not just hop in any old plane and fly on autopilot from Heathrow to Paris via a quick shoot under Tower Bridge. With MSFS' often photo-realistic scenery,

21.4.2018

Having been involved in home built flight simulators, I now find myself without the space. However having recently got back into desktop simulators I decided I needed a basic joystick and separate throttle. I chose this because of its multi-engine capability. I usually fly twins and usually jets, so for those I configure this as the two engines and speed brake. But in programs such as x-plane 11, you can configure it depending on the aircraft you fly. So for the single engine Cirrus Jet, that has no airbrakes, I set one for engine, one for elevator trim and one for flap. They give you additional caps and it's easy to join another one up to give the classic piston twin power setup.I like how easy this is to set up both in software and physically.

6.6.2017

As the title suggests, this review is for the Pro Flight Switch panel. I am slowly expanding my equipment collection and up until now it has been fine. The problem has started with this product. In itself it is a good product as it appears well built and makes satisfying clicks and it feels like it's built to last, unlike the throttle quadrant.The problem I have with this product is that there is absolutely ZERO customisability in terms of switch configuration. Even worse, in X-Plane 11, it isn't registered as a controller or joypad so you can't configure it there and to add even more dung to the pile, MOST of the switches do nothing.

24.6.2018

I ordered this on Friday after many months of holding back thinking do I really need it and it arrived Saturday.I am so glad I bought it and I will be expanding my collection. The setup is pretty straight forward, you plug the lead in and the driver installs however I do recommend that you go to logitechs website and download the driver from there also.Once you have installed the drivers, start p3d v4 and load your flight, if the display doesn't light up, you need to find the Logitech folder on your pc and the run the application from there which I believe simply activates the display screens and I think that only needs to be done once.Once your flight has loaded, the screen will light up with an instrument display,

3.12.2020

This finally became available for preorder (and at a great price) from Amazon. The initial delivery date was expected to be Jan 2021 but I was very please when it arrived in under a week on 2nd December 2020.Setting up was a doddle even with no instructions in the pack (2 cables and 2 clamps) and the yoke and throttle unit are recognised and preconfigured in FS2020. The yoke is a bit bigger than I expected so I’m going to need to modify my desk so it fits with all the other junk that surrounds my PC. Setting off for my first few flights and the difference between the yoke and a joystick was striking. Flying seems much more realistic and a lot easier to control.The downsides are few but do make a difference.Firstly the yoke shaft is lightly greased but some movements are jerky.

23.5.2020

I was given a set of CH Pro Pedals. These were in bits, and not working. I managed to repair them. which was an interesting job. They must have been about 12 years old at least.So the obvious thing to do was to get was a yoke and throttle set up. The Logitech system was on sale at a discounted price, so I ordered it. I even got 0.25 P off by pre - ordering !!I have mounted mine under the desk, photos attached. The reason was that I still wanted to use the desk with the keyboard. The supplied mount is huge. Not mentioned in the instructions, which are not supplied. They have to be downloaded , are four screw holes in the base of the yoke box. These are M4.The wooden box to contain the yoke was made from off cuts of 8 mm ply.

13.2.2021

I love flight sim and when the MSFS 2020 was released it was an amazing step forward, although I still use XPlane 11. Having flown with the military in the past I have a love for proper flying and this product was the answer. I also have the switch units from Logitech. In short this is a really effective and adds to the whole flight sim experience if you enjoy realistic flying, the down side is you must get set up correct and follow the instructions to the letter.First download the complete drivers from the website before connecting, I also found that when you have multiple units make sure you download all the drivers and updates. When I finally had the perfect set up save this on your backup settings.

30.7.2018

Two very different levels of quality to this yoke and throttle set. Firstly, the yoke is solid and smooth and feels like it has been taken out of a real light aircraft. Secondly the throttle set looks and feels cheap, all plastic including the levers themselves and not just the handles.That said, it works nicely when set up on XPlane 10 (11 arriving tomorrow) and the three rocker switches below each lever I have set up for pitch, roll, and yaw trim.I bought the Thrustmaster rudder pedals because the Logitech ones weren't going to be available until the end of the week, but they are really nice to use and seem good quality.

26.12.2020

I got this for flight sim 2020, you have to go to Logitech website and download the driver. Overall it's great to be able to set altitudes and more without fiddling with the annoying dials in game. However, there is one issue which I've since fixed. The issue was that the turning heading turning in 10 degree increments when turning the dial. The fix was to unmap some of the buttons on my honeycomb yoke, those were all the buttons on the front of the yoke panel, including the starter key. I'm not sure if they all need disabling, but will need to do more testing. Once disabled, the Logitech panel worked as intended, it now turns in 1 degree increments for heading,

15.5.2018

This brief review is in respect of the Logitech (formerly Saitek) Pro Flight Multi Panel. I only say that because the reviews in this area seemed to be bundled together in respect of products that are as different as chalk and cheese. The Multi Panel is one of a series of separate Flight Simulator add ons made by Logitech for use alongside a joystick, control column, and other flight simulator controls. To the un-initiated, perhaps considering buying as a gift, please speak to the recipient first. By itself, this item will be useless!Right, having got that over with. If you are in the market for an add-on Flight Sim controller that provides elevator trim, flap control and simple autopilot functions,

13.4.2020

For the price, this is nothing short of astonishing. Superficially, it isn't much to look at. It's all plastic construction, at least on the exterior, with three levers for throttle, pop pitch, and fuel mixture. They even throw in some additional lever tops!Each lever also has a switch at its lowest point, so this could be used for engaging reverses, for example, or anything you wish, really. Below each lever is a rocker switch, non latching, which again can be configured for whatever you wish, giving you nine additional switches.Movement of the levers is smooth, with one exception. When moving in and out of the lowest point there is a noticeable jump up to the 0 point.

12.4.2019

This is a review or the Radio Panel.First the good points.- nice solid unit; quality build- comes with a slot to bolt into - nice screws supplied- the unit screws onto a compatible yolk that keeps everything steady- the click buttons are very solid - quite stiff but a satisfying click.- the twiddle buttons work fine- very clear digital display- options to tune NAV1 & 2, Comm1 & 2, adf, show DME, etc. On top and bottomnot so good things- setup! Logitech drivers (via website) waste of time. Could not get this to work with FSX.- managed to get it consistently working downloading the free SPAD tool. Only way to go (but requires FSUIPC)other thoughtsnot sure I like it mounted on the yoke.

25.2.2018

Once operational it adds a new level of realism to your simming experience. I purchased all three available panels and it changed everything, this one, however, gives new depth all by itself!The biggest issue is setup, it is a pain to be honest, I had to switch USB power management off, allowing for the system to use as much of my PSU's wattage as it needed! The drivers are the same old 'confusing' state that Saitek always offer, this is their biggest downfall, as now the owner of all of their cockpit systems (minus the FIPs, so far) I obviously like the general build that they provide, with their in-flight quality good for the money that they are offered at. With new companies coming in,

Saitek Pro Flight Radio Panel - Reviews

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