AVSIM Commercial Hardware Review Control at a Higher Level Flight Sim Yoke USB and Pro Pedals USB

It has been over a year since CH Products announced the Flight Sim Yoke USB and Pro Pedals USB. I can remember saying to myself wow! Three levers, USB, rocker buttons for trim, what more could you ask for well maybe force feed back (which by the way they are working on as I write this review) would top it off but I will settle for this. Oh, did I mention working toe brakes on the ruder pedals?

The FS forums were full of anticipation; simmers could not wait to get their paws on these products, but then came the delays with the hardware, compatibility problems and so on. Finally, the wait is over! The new Flight Sim Yoke USB and Pro Pedals USB are here. The new yoke and ruder pedal combination are surprisingly well balanced with a very realistic feel.

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Out of the box

I felt like a little boy on Christmas morning waiting for the UPS guy to show up, but when he finally did, I opened the box with enthusiasm. After taking everything out of the box, I proceeded with the installation. Installing the USB yoke and USB ruder pedals was very easy under various Windows operating systems. Windows 98 and Windows 98SE will prompt you for the windows 98 CD to install some support drivers, but Windows ME will not. I was unable to test the yoke and ruder pedals under Windows 2000 or NT. During the installation windows will identify the devices as "human interface devices" or HID for short. After the installation process, I checked the game controllers option in the control panel to test the two devices. Viewing the properties of both controllers, you will notice the yoke is perfectly centered. The throttle, prop, and mixture levers are all perfectly calibrated—unlike its predecessor, the Virtual Pilot Pro. The ruder pedals will operate like a separate controller; not like the analog controllers where they were connected together on the same cable to the game port.

Configuring FS2000

Configuring the USB yoke and ruder pedals in FS2000 was easy. FS2000 (both versions) will see the yoke and ruder pedals as separate joysticks. The sim will assign default settings to both devices from the beginning so you will have to do some editing via the options/settings menu in FS2000. The CH Products Knowledge Base has detailed instructions on how to configure the yoke and Pro Pedals USB in FS2000. One of the new features of the Pro Pedals USB is working toe brakes. You will have to edit the FS2000.CFG file manually to enable them, but again CH PRODUCTS web site has this information. One note: FS2000 does not support progressive braking. Therefore, when you stomp on the brakes they are either on or off.

The boxes before opening; I am drooling at this point! This is the wood base I had to fabricate so my yoke would not hit my monitor. That's a cloth diaper on the bottom that is glued to the wood so I don't scratch the desk. You can see the three separate levers in this shot Here you can see the POV hat switch, trim buttons, and the two rocker switches on the front of the yoke In this last shot, you can see the leveling wheel for the yoke and one of the two index finger buttons

On the runway or in the air

After setting everything up in FS2000, it was time to put the Flight Sim Yoke USB and Pro Pedals USB through their paces. For this flight, I chose AVSIM's very own "corporate aircraft," the split tail Beechcraft Bonanza for its accurate flight dynamics. On the taxi out to the runway I tested the ruder pedals and toe brakes. The first thing I noticed was how there was no twitching in the pedals, which was very common with the older analog pedals. I also tried a few 360's on the taxiway to test out the differential braking, which worked well. For this flight, I set up a 15-knot direct crosswind to check out the responsiveness of the pedals on take off and climb out. After going through the pre take off checklist I taxied out to the runway, applied full power and released the brakes. The poor little Bonanza sputtered and choked a little but we will have to save that story for next time. During the take off roll, I noticed how easy it was to keep the nose on the centerline. Very realistic!

On climb out, I adjusted the manifold pressure via the throttle lever, moved the prop lever in and out, and adjusted the mixture setting. All three levers responded very well. After reaching altitude, I did a few steep turns in both directions. The new yoke has a very comfortable feel to it. During the steep turns, I noticed how easy it was to keep the same altitude. I can remember how jerky the Virtual Pilot Pro was doing these turns. The new Flight Sim Yoke USB is a 100% improvement over the older Virtual Pilot Pro due to the new yoke not having the detents. The turns were also easy to keep coordinated with the Pro Pedals. Climbs and descents were very easy—you did not have to apply too much back- or forward-pressure on the yoke to climb/descend like you have to with the Virtual Pilot Pro series. There are two rocker switches, one on each handle, on the yoke for elevator trim and the other for ruder or aileron trim. In level flight, I tried the trim switches to see how the yoke responded.

After a short period, it was time to go back and see how the new yoke and ruder pedals would fair in a slip to a landing and a crosswind landing. My first approach was a slip to a soft field landing. With a 15-knot, direct cross wind from the left the yoke and ruder pedals worked flawlessly. I had no problem holding the slip all the way to the threshold. The flare over the runway was smooth with the yoke, and I had no problem keeping the nose wheel off the runway. The second time around I had no problem keeping lined up on the runway centerline. I was able to plant the left main on the runway while keeping the right main and nose wheel off as long as I could, while keeping the left wing low with the yoke while adding right ruder.

Back at the hangar

The CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB and Pro Pedals USB are a perfect match for Microsoft's FS2000. With good responses and smooth feel CH PRODUCTS has added a once unattainable amount of realism to flight simulation without breaking your bank account. The Flight Sim Yoke USB has a total of 5 axes, 4 buttons, a point of view hat switch, and 4 rocker switches. The yoke also has an adjusting wheel to center the yoke. The Pro Pedals USB has 3 axes but you will only use one of them. I only have one complaint with the ruder pedals and that is they tend to slide on carpeting. So I put some upside down Velcro taped to the bottom of the pedals, which cured the sliding. The ruder pedals also come with chocks to stop the forward/backward motion just in case you want to play Need For Speed.

CH Products has a winning combination on their hands. It was well worth the wait and money. The total for both was a little over $230 including shipping. This may seem steep to some—but if you are a real world pilot then you will know these products pay for themselves repeatedly with the money you will save from renting an airplane or the cost of fuel if you own your own aircraft. Try them, you will not be disappointed!