Greetings all,After years of controlling aircraft using the numbers keys, I'm finally close to buying a yoke/throttles/rudder set. Most likely it will be the Saitek Pro Flight versions. The throttle seems to have 3 levers. How does this relate to sim flying, ie 2 engine planes, vs 3 and 4? Is it necessary to buy a 2nd throttle for a 4 engine plane? Also, can any of those levers be used for something other than throttle control, eg: flaps? Any tips on this, or any related items (yokes/rudders, etc) would be appreciated.

Hey Ron,personally I prefer Saitek Throttle and CH yoke and pedals. The real feel compared between CH and Saitek is huge, where I found out that CH is far ahead. Saitek feels like a toy compared to CH.I use Saitek throttle, which is good in my opinion. You make the choice, Saitek can get cheaper if you buy them in bundle, but as said I'm willing to pay extra to get more realistic feeling.

My Saitek throttle started spiking badly 2 days ago after about a year of trouble free service. Still in the process of taking everything apart and cleaning the pots. Hope that will get it sorted. FRED

I have Saitek flight pro (Yoke, throttles and rudder paddles), it's OK, bought Saitek flight pro X-65F 2 days ago and for the first time in my sim flying time (22 years) I landed the PMDG MD11 right on the spot and kept doing that, it needs some training though till you get use to the force input concept.

The throttle seems to have 3 levers. How does this relate to sim flying, ie 2 engine planes, vs 3 and 4? Is it necessary to buy a 2nd throttle for a 4 engine plane? Also, can any of those levers be used for something other than throttle control, eg: flaps? Any tips on this, or any related items (yokes/rudders, etc) would be appreciated.

Hiya.Most yokes on the retail market that have levers have three of them because they're configured for use with single engine, piston powered aircraft, fitted with a constant speed propellor. Therefore from left to right: lever 1 is for the throttle, lever 2 is prop control, lever 3 is mixture control. This is how I've got FSX setup. This does mean that even for multi engine jets, I still just use the one lever for throttle control. If I need to shut down an engine or something, I just press E, then 1,2,3,4 (or combination of) to take control of the engines required.There is nothing stopping you from assigning any of these levers to other functions though, so if you wanted to have say, lever 1 and 2 for engines 1 and 2, and perhaps lever 3 for flaps, you can do this.

I use saitek joke+2x throttle+pedals and I like it. I expirienced no problems at all.If you do not want to buy second throttle, you can use lever no2 for both inner engines.Ljubomir Prodanovic

Hi,Since half a year I've been using the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System + extra quad for my RealAir Beechcraft Duke (twin engine) and in FSX. I'm quite happy with the yoke, the quads have a much more plastic feel to them. (although I've been rather spoiled during my fighter sim era with my Thrustmaster HOTAS Cougar stick and throttle. They are in a different league all together). The Saitek yoke has a lot of switches and buttons and there's also 6 buttons on each quad. You also get a SW package for the setup, or you can use FSUIPC (I think). As for me, I so far only used the FSX std functions. Will probably need something more for NGX.I'd recommend the Saitek system if you don't want something really realistic (google for "737" and "yoke/quad" and you will find some really nice - but rather pricey - things). And you will definately get a much better flight experience compared to just using your keyboard!!!Since some people have had problems with the setup of this product () I wrote a small guide that can be found here: http://forum.avsim.n...ke-system-quad/Good luck!

I have the Saitek yoke, throttles, and rudder pedals. I have  used both the CH and Saitek versions in the past. Therefore, I am QUALIFIED to say that I like the Saitek miles and miles better. (My Opinion Only) It feels sturdier, and better constructed. For example, the shaft of the CH yoke is plastic, but the shaft of the Saitek is is metal. The CH stuff feels (and looks IMO) cheap. Anyway, back to your original Q. Before, I had just one 3-lever TQ. It was ok. I had one lever for throttle, one for flaps, and one for spoiler. However, I was having a problem because I didn't have individual control of the engines, andni was limited to the other functions I could assign. So a couple months later I purchased another three lever quadrant from Saitek. (bought on amazon for ~$40) it was so much better. Now I have the two stuck together and six levers that I use for a variety of functions. I can upload a picture if you want.  Another thing to note is that you can pop off the caps of the levers and re-arrange them depending on your config. I remember that I had a little bit of difficulty trying to get the axis set up right. (especially the differential brakes) If you want me to assist you in setting this all up, let me know. I can help you either by remotely logging on to your computer and walking you through it, or via live chat. (I'm offering to Ron only. Sorry, I can't have 60 people who want my help.)Take Care!

Get the TM Warthog HOTAS. No pots, no problems!Another option is the TM T.16000 if you want a very reliable and precise stick as it uses the same tech as the Warthog.My MS SideWinder 1 non-FF is as good as the day I bought it on the axis and it is 12 years old. It uses optical sensing. The buttons however have started failing though they still work.Best regards,Robin.

Saitek yokeBlack lever: Spolier [reversed like real life]Blue lever: EngineRed Lever: Mixture.

Have had the CH yoke (with the three quadrants built onto it), and the CH pedals, for a few years..I agree with the other posts that it feels pretty cheap.With the yoke shaft being plastic and the frame around it also plastic, from day one it always felt 'sticky', and was really hard to get centered (elevator), the little 'trim' wheel on the front to the left of the yoke, which only trims the yoke itself (doesn't interface with fs in anyway) is very stiff and also hard to 'center' - although it does help some since the yoke itself sticks so badly. In fact, I have gotten where I almost seem to fly any plane more with that little trim wheel thing than than by using the yoke..which I don't really like at all. And it could be more of a software issue but I have also never been able to really get the aileron trim centered either. It seems very 'spiky' and when I think I get it centered it always starts drifting one way or the other. (could be software or fsx but I have spent more time with fspuic or whatever -paid version- than I would like lol). As for the pedals; they recently stopped working. As I had them longer than the warranty I opened them up. I discovered that the wiring was run in a way that they had continuously been subject to friction around all the moving parts. The wiring itself seemed very thin, and 'shoddy' in appearance. and looked like it was kinda thrown together and just stuffed inside of the housing. I will say that the housing for the pedals is heavy and quite sturdy; its just the wiring and the ...pots?... that looked really cheap. I didn't have a solder so I taped them up the best I could where the wires had broke, and reinforced several places that were about to eat through the wires. I than stuffed everything back together as best I could in a way that looked like it stayed away from moving parts. It has worked okay since than but I fear it won't last forever..if long at all lol.Oh and lastly, one of the tops of the throttle levers broke off way to easily, the body of the throttle coming up to the head is very thin and seems weak, and even super glue wouldn't hold it back together, maybe some epoxy? lol So I'm totally ready to try the Siatek yoke and pedals. Maybe the throttles as well.My experience may not be every ones of course.

Get PFC desktop yoke and you'll never look back for these cheap ch and saitek yoke which I used to own.

Get PFC desktop yoke and you'll never look back for these cheap ch and saitek yoke which I used to own.

Lol, wow. Are you always this snooty?Having owned a CH and currently a Saitek yoke, the Saitek has been much better all around.

Saitek yokeBlack lever: Spolier [reversed like real life]Blue lever: EngineRed Lever: Mixture.

I've recently purchased a second stand alone quadrant for multi-engine stuff. I'm in heaven now.

Lol, wow. Are you always this snooty?Having owned a CH and currently a Saitek yoke, the Saitek has been much better all around.I've recently purchased a second stand alone quadrant for multi-engine stuff. I'm in heaven now.

Yokes and throttles have to be decided by how much you are willing to spend. You can spend $3000 on a yoke or throttle or you can spend $125 for one. The Saitek yoke, to me, is a better buy than the CH, but the CH throttle quadrant is the best buy for the money. My Saitek throttles wore out right away, but I use my CH much more, yet they are still in good shape. I had a CH yoke before and eventually gave it away to one of my customers that was getting into flight simulation and I bought a Saitek Pro-Flight. I still like it a lot. It feels good and works great.The Saitek has a centering spring function, so you can "feel" when the yoke is centered. CH did not have that and if you were not looking at your yoke, you could not know if it was centered.I'm sure the $3000 Boeing simulator yoke would work fantastic, but if I could afford that, I would just buy the airplane.I just recently purchased the Throttletek G737 throttle quadrant just for this NGX and I'm really looking forward to having it. I expect it at the end of September. It sounds like it will work great and give a little bit more of the "feel" of the real ones. It is not a scale reproduction to the 737 throttle, but much closer than the CH and it was within reach cost-wise. It's the closest I'll ever get to a home simulator.There is always something better if your willing to pay for it, but if you want a very functional and enjoyable setup, get the Saitek yoke, CH throttle quadrant and CH peddles (actually they are the only peddles that I've ever had and they still work perfectly).Bob

Greetings all,After years of controlling aircraft using the numbers keys, I'm finally close to buying a yoke/throttles/rudder set. Most likely it will be the Saitek Pro Flight versions. The throttle seems to have 3 levers. How does this relate to sim flying, ie 2 engine planes, vs 3 and 4? Is it necessary to buy a 2nd throttle for a 4 engine plane? Also, can any of those levers be used for something other than throttle control, eg: flaps? Any tips on this, or any related items (yokes/rudders, etc) would be appreciated.

I've had CH products and the only thing I kept was the rudder. The Saitek yoke ans throttle are much better. I bought a second throttle quadrant on top of it even though I only fly 737.I even use 2 throttle axis' per engine mechanically held together mechanically (feels better) Only one of both configured in FS off course.You can indeed configure other throttle axis for flaps and spoilers etc....Also the way to program buttons on the Saitek is nice: for example, on most critical functions (parking brake, gear, fuel cuttoff levers) I programmed timers to avoid inadvertent operation: you have to push them for 2 seconds (for example) for them to actually work. If you touch them shortly, nothing happens.Best Regards,Bert Van Bulck