So I keep seeing this product advertised on AVSIM and thought it would add more realism to my FSX experience. I've seen lots of reviews about this item and while the majority of them are positive, there are quite a few that describe problems such as detents in the operation of the aileron and elevator controls as well as buttons that seem to operate by themselves. I have a few questions that I hope my fellow flight sim enthusiasts can answer:

 

1. I have a number of add-on's that are in regular rotation in my hangar. They are the the ESDG CX 2.0, RealAir Duke and Legacy, Majestic Dash 8, and everything from PMDG. Are there any compatibility issues with these aircraft?

 

2. How is the build quality of the yoke?

 

3. I have read that Saitek has fixed the issues with the random button operation and the detente issue?

 

4. How responsive is Saitek's support?

 

5. Is there another yoke that would be a better purchase than this item? 

 

 

I'm also very interested in this yoke from Saitek, so any feedback will be appreciated.

I use the yoke with every plane I fly, except for the joystick planes of course.

 

I can't answer about support.

 

Build quality is good for the price, and there is no other yoke at that price range, except for the CH yoke but that is not as good.

 

I'd recommend it, I'm not going to spend $500 or $1000 on a flightsim yoke.

 

Lee

One problem with the yoke that I noticed: After I had had it for about 2 years, the hat switch started 'sticking', whenever I would manipulate it to pan to a certain angle, it just kept going and would not stop panning for a while. I opened it up and it seemed like a faulty button was the cause. No idea if you can buy those aftermarket and put them on. If I were you, I would buy a cheap joystick and use the money saved to buy two throttle quadrants. This allows you to have independent throttle/prop/mixture controls for a twin-engine prop, a throttle/flap/spoiler axis for jets, or 4 throttles for a four engine jet. They work fine with my PMDG J41, so I assume they would work with most addons.

I had one and returned it due to its inability to maintain calibration and use of detents.

 

Picked up a CH Eclipse and couldn't be happier. Smooth as butter.

 

For what its worth, I've never had a Saitek device last longer than a year and I've owned 5. You'd think I would learn my lesson. LOL

 

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I've been using it for a month. Works great and you can't beat the price. I also have the pedals. No problems with fanthom keystrokes either.

I have the Cessna Pro Flight yoke, throttles, trim control, pro pedals...used for two years, had one issue which was my doing on settings, fixed after only one day of adjustment. 

 

They work flawlessly.  Provide excellent realism for a reasonable price.

 

I have never needed any support.  Have no issue with random button assignments, not sure what that's about.  

For the price it's great, and has worked brilliantly for me for the past 2yrs or so. It's definitely a step up from a joystick and suddenly the whole flying experience changes. I would recommend some rudder pedals to complete the experience.

 

I've had no issues and considering the amount of use its had I have no complaints. Never had to contact their support so can't comment.

 

The recent announcement of a really really expensive yoke appears OTT for what is essentially a joystick. I'm assuming that the cost is mainly to re-coup the huge tooling costs which probably make up the bulk of the cost but I digress.

I had a Saitek  Pro Flight Yoke and had a similar experience as Arklight1. I returned mine and now use the CH Eclipse Yoke which I find to be excellent.

Bill

I've been using mine for 3 years now without any problems whatsoever, and used together with the throttle quadrant, that gives me 18 buttons to map functions to.

 

Kevin O'Connell

Should have said; the 18-button count is due to the fact that the switches on the yoke are two-way.

 

Kevin O'Connell

I've had mine for couple of years now I think, no problem with it but strongly advice on also getting rudder pedals for it, otherwise you'll cripple your ability to maneuver quite a bit. I made the mistake of thinking i'll just fly it with autorudder and it'll be fine, well it has been gathering dust in my closet for most time. (Though that's because i have to dismount it from my table after every session due to lack of desktop space. With joystick i can just fly as it doesn't take much space) Maybe if i'd get myself rudder pedals i'd be more inclined to use it every session.  :p0502:

I have to say I have been very happy with mine.  Yoke in and out movement can be a bit sticky at times but no other issues, working fine on FSX and Windows 8.

 

I used to use a CH yoke (gameport connector not USB) and would say that Saitek build quality superior.

Mine is 2 years old. My detents got a little weak so I looked on you tube and found a way to fix it. Couldn't be happier with the product.  I also use FSUIPC for calibration but be aware with the conflict between Pete and Saitek the support from either is questionable. I find more help here from other users than anywhere else so no worries. The only difference is that the Saitek drivers give you 3 modes in storage which can be overcome in FSUIPC registered with different profiles. So again no problem. I have the multi, switch, and radio panel as well. Only advice is to use SPAD drivers for them if you take that route. I ordered the USB addon throttle so it gives you enough levers to fly a twin accuratly.  With the single throttle quad you will just have to map your levers to single use or used keyboard short cuts for some levers to sacrifice. All in all I am a happy flyer with saitek. Good luck and really consider getting the add on throttle, you won't regret it. Happy Flying Cpt out.

I'm very happy with mine, I've had it for well over three years and it's running perfectly. It's the best yoke available if you don't want to fork out ~$1000 for another yoke. Definitely get yourself a set of pedals, they're worth it. I got my pedals with my yoke and they're working as well as the day I first plugged them in. 

 

BTW, if you know you're going to be flying multi-engined aircraft, try considering buying another set of throttles- I got my second set about three months ago and it's improved my airliner simming by quite a lot. 

Thank you for all the advice. I like the idea of the throttle quadrant but I don't have enough space for  the yoke and the quadrant. I've read a lot of reviews that mention detente's in the aileron and elevator controls which I interpret as the the movement of the yoke not being smooth. Is this correct? 

 

I've also looked at the CH Eclipse but its almost $60 more than the Saitek. Is it that much better in-terms of build quality and functionality?