Wow!  That is some very nice looking work.  Question, do the C-clamps have enough effect to keep the "nose" of the main yoke housing on the desk during use?  My earlier yoke was a CH whose small standard plastic clamps on each side did not reach very far under the desk, and thus I had that problem, especially when pulling back on the yoke.

Thank you very much!  And to answer your question, absolutely, they work perfectly!

 

 

Thank you very much!  And to answer your question, absolutely, they work perfectly!

 

Great! If I recall the CH I had did not handle the bullnose edge on my desk as well as the teeth of it's clamps had only a small reach.

 

I also like how you are able to use a keyboard tray.  With the standard mount I am unable to do that.  The mount extends down far enough to effectively block use of a tray, and you found a good solution to that.  My desk is not dedicated to flight sims so I am reluctant to drill into even the the underside to mount a tray.  That and because I use my computer for other work I use a desk chair with a tall shaft so that my sitting height is correct for a desktop keyboard.  If I went with an undermount tray I'd have to replace my chair.   

 

How did you create the finish on your yoke?

Great! If I recall the CH I had did not handle the bullnose edge on my desk as well as the teeth of it's clamps had only a small reach.

 

I also like how you are able to use a keyboard tray.  With the standard mount I am unable to do that.  The mount extends down far enough to effectively block use of a tray, and you found a good solution to that.  My desk is not dedicated to flight sims so I am reluctant to drill into even the the underside to mount a tray.  That and because I use my computer for other work I use a desk chair with a tall shaft so that my sitting height is correct for a desktop keyboard.  If I went with an undermount tray I'd have to replace my chair.   

 

How did you create the finish on your yoke?

I don't want to be rude and threadjack so I will create a new thread tomorrow with my custom setup.  I also use a throttle quadrant mounted sideways with a fishing rod handle on it for a steering tiller 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/432207-home-made-steering-tiller-using-saitek-throttle-unit/

I'm looking into the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke  plus 2 throttle quadrants and rudder pedals. Does anybody have these and would they recommend them? Any longevity issues? Ease of setting up?

 

Also what's the depth of the yoke, as in how much does it overlap on your desk when attached?

 

Any insight would be appreciated before I blow the best part of £300 on these things!

Look into a CH yoke I had my first one for 8 years and it was my fault that it broke. When it broke I bought another one the same day. Its a great yoke with much better internal quality then saitek.

Nylon bushings typically have to wear in. That does sound a real pain though. I wonder why they choose to use that and not an angular roller bearing. Cost i'd imagine.

Quite frankly I think this yoke is really a POS from a practical standpoint.  For the cost involved using a lousy roller bearing that costs just a few dollars more could have made the difference.  Plus, just read on about how others have to find a different way to mount the thing because the ginormous clamp method gets in your way.  The CH yoke at least has nice exceedingly solid set of clamps that are much lower profile and never get in your way, and moreover don't require a warning not to over tighten it.  I think Saitek's emphasis is 95% making it look good, but completely ignores functionality.  As I say, the buttons are very not very positive to feel and actuate.    It's a toy yoke, as all are at this even this price point.  But it's real accolade is that it looks good, but that beauty IMO is very much skin deep.  Apparently that's enough to sell units else they would solve the very consistently complained about detent & mounting clamp nonsense.   The accompanying throttle unit once again looks fine, but one can easily feel how low-end the guts are.  It's a pretty piece of junk I'm afraid.  

 

It might be possible to open and fix the thing w/ a better bearing and to lose the detents.  I find that pathetic to have to do with a product that could easily have been designed to work much better OO the box.

 

 

It's a pretty piece of junk I'm afraid.

 

Disagree.  And your positive solution for the OP is........

 

 

Disagree.  And your positive solution for the OP is........

 

Ahh, regarding the OP's request for recommendations.   Mine is to not buy the system unless you're primarily interested in cosmetics, are ok w/ the sticky shaft, clamping system prompting many users to opt to adapt their own mounting solution, and button layout that not particularly user friendly and tricky to sense exactly what you're doing.   Contrasted w/ the CH yoke which has none of these problems, however definitely loses in the cosmetics dept for most users I would guess.

Late in arriving....I have the pro yoke, peddles, trim wheel, throttles, and multi switch gear lever set.

 

Simply put they are great, work well for me, I don't know about stickiness, don't care about 45 degree rotation,  not and issue for my flying, and the button layout works just fine for my programming assignments.

 

Buy them and you will be totally immersed into your flight sim.

 

cheers.

Ahh, regarding the OP's request for recommendations.   Mine is to not buy the system unless you're primarily interested in cosmetics, are ok w/ the sticky shaft, clamping system prompting many users to opt to adapt their own mounting solution, and button layout that not particularly user friendly and tricky to sense exactly what you're doing.   Contrasted w/ the CH yoke which has none of these problems, however definitely loses in the cosmetics dept for most users I would guess.

 

Greatly differing opinions here.  I have had no stickiness whatsoever.  My references to Saitek here are specifically to the Pro Flight Cessna model, which is the only Saitek I have owned and used.  The shaft on my Pro Flight Cessna yoke is metal, not plastic.  I had two different models of CH Yoke over a more than 10 year span, when CH was about the only yoke out there.  

 

The CH Flight Sim USB is not only cosmetically inferior, it is mostly cheap plastic.  It weighs in at about 4.25 lbs.  The Saitek Pro Flight Cessna yoke weighs about twice that.   The shaft on both of the CH yokes I owned were not anywhere near as smooth as my Pro Cessna.  I never opened either CH yoke but it always felt like plastic sliding through plastic.  I was constantly using agents like Pledge or wiping with a cloth dampened with silicone spray.  The switches were also cheaper plastic.  I would bet that each switch weighed half of the weight of a similar Saitek switch.  

 

The switches on both brands of yokes, CH and Saitek, always work(ed) for me.  I found no difficulty in either.  Never.  I have only one switch location complaint on the Saitek and it may come from 7 or so years of using the CH Flight Sim USB model yoke.  I got used to the hat switch under my right thumb.  I am right handed.  The Saitek hat switch is in a similar position on the left side of the yoke and I would rather have it on the right side.  To counter that issue, the throttle quadrant on the CH yoke is built into the top of the main body of the yoke assembly.  It is cheap and not accurate.  I had to buy a separate throttle control to work with it.  Additional dollars spent.  I believe it was from Thrustmaster and the quality difference between that Thrustmaster throttle's construction and the CH yoke was dramatic.  And that is another stab at the weight of the CH.  Part of that 4+ lbs is unarguably in that "wish-it-wasn't-there-in-the-first-place"  throttle quadrant.  The Saitek quadrant comes with the yoke, is substantial, and is separate. 

 

Greatly differing opinions.  If the OP parses through several years of posts in this forum on flight controls he will see primarily Saitek and above yokes.  I honestly do not recall the last time I saw a CH yoke in a photo here of someone's cockpit array.

Well........that escalated quickly....... :huh: I personally would love to buy the new force feedback being developed by Vector I believe but unless someone is donating 800 bucks to my account I will make due with my setup....

 

 

The shaft on both of the CH yokes I owned were not anywhere near as smooth as my Pro Cessna.

 

Do yourself a favor and google 'Saitek yoke stickiness' and see what you come up with.  Here's one guy who wouldn't give up getting rid of the hard detents in the Saitek, however had to void his warranty to go there:

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/351529-finally-a-fix-for-the-saitek-pro-flight-yoke-pitch-axis/

 

 

 

The shaft on my Pro Flight Cessna yoke is metal, not plastic.

 

Yes, and the metal shaft goes thru a nylon bushing that is not to be lubricated.

 

 

 

The Saitek hat switch is in a similar position on the left side of the yoke and I would rather have it on the right side

 

Agreed...I forgot to mention this considerable annoyance.

 

 

the throttle quadrant on the CH yoke is built into the top of the main body of the yoke assembly.  It is cheap and not accurate.  I had to buy a separate throttle control to work with it.

 

They've always worked perfectly here, 6 years running now, no need to even consider a sep throttle.  The throttle friction/travel feels cheap to me in the Saitek.  Looks impressive though...

 

The switches were also cheaper plastic.  I would bet that each switch weighed half of the weight of a similar Saitek switch.

 

Ahh, a lower grade of plastic you are saying?  They're both plastic in the Saitek and the CH.  The difference is that the CH action is much easier to feel and actuate, and indeed the very positive hat switch is much easier to feel and control.  CH wins absolutely in the button department.

 

Yes it's ok to have different opinions.  I'm looking into either the GoFlight or PFC yoke.  I would concur, for the $$, the Saitek Cessna is certainly a reasonable choice.   You may have to mod it to overcome it's inherent problems w/ stickiness, hard detent, mounting options, etc.

Ive got yoke, standard pedals & trip wheel ... There all good but if you can afford it get the combat pedals, a buddy of mine has a set and there nice.

 

On other saitek items ive also got radio, switch panel and tpm set, there all good and worth buying, personally id stay away from the autopilot, i tried one and promply sold it on ebay and bought a vri mcp.

 

 

Do yourself a favor and google 'Saitek yoke stickiness' and see what you come up with. Here's one guy who wouldn't give up getting rid of the hard detents in the Saitek, however had to void his warranty to go there:



http://forum.avsim.n...oke-pitch-axis/

 

I made this mod and was very pleased with the final result; the yoke performs very respectably now. That said, if I was buying new, I would probably not purchase the Saitek again. As others have pointed out, it's sexy on the outside, but its construction is uber cheap China-fab. I had to replace the USB connectors on the yoke to prevent random disconnects with my other peripherals.

 

 

Here's one guy who wouldn't give up getting rid of the hard detents in the Saitek

 

I understand that some users object to the noticeable detent that centers the fore - aft motion of the yoke.  To each his own.  I had the same issue with the CH yokes, though the Saitek is more pronounced as the fore - aft motion is stiffer, so it does take a bit more effort to move it off the detent.  Not enough of an issue for me to open up the case.

 

 

They've always worked perfectly here, 6 years running now, no need to even consider a sep throttle.

 

I recall that in the middle of winter the position of the quadrant on top of the CH yoke body made me reminisce about operating my lawn tractor.

I got a Pro Flight Cessna yoke as a Christmas present. As a recently retired professional pilot and long-time flight sim enthusiast, I was keen to try this yoke and throttle quadrant. The throttle quadrant is well made and is an excellent addition to the flight sim experience. It operates smoothly and has plenty of programmable buttons. The yoke is also well made (better than the standard Saitek Pro Flight Yoke) and again has plenty of programmable buttons. However, at least with my example, it has a fundamental design flaw which stops it from being usable for precision control. The stainless steel shaft has a slot along each side in which runs the roll sensor mechanism. Whilst roll response always feels smooth, pitch response is only smooth with no roll input. With any roll applied, the added friction of the roll sensor mechanism means that fine pitch control is almost impossible and becomes quite notchy, most noticeably near the neutral point of the spring centring where fine control is most needed. I don't think that the nylon bearings are really the problem here. My experience doesn't seem to match some of the other opinions here but looking around the net I'm not the only person to have this problem. There are a couple of good video reviews on YouTube which accurately demonstrate the problem. Needless to say, the yoke went back!