Honeycomb Yoke and Throttle news

[Nicki Repenning 17]

I hope I've touched on everything that was questioned on the thread, a lot of it was regarding the clamping system.

We are yet to find a surface that it didn't work on as good or better than a traditional clamp and the big advantage is that it can be mounted to any table regardless of thickness or design, which current clamp designs cannot.

An added bonus is, that is is aesthetically much more pleasing than any clamping system I've seen.

With regards to Aerosoft then we see them as a strong strategic partner. They probably have the best distribution network of any potential partner in Europe, in both physical stores as well as online shops and the plan is to have Honeycomb available at any location that sells flight sim equipment. They will also be handling European tech support, which means that our customers will be working with a team of experienced simmers that can provide the best possible service.

If there are any additional questions or if I've missed any above, let me know.

Thank you,
Nicki/Honeycomb

[MartinRex007 390]

Nicki, thanks for all the info, really looking forward to your upcoming yoke and throttles, wishing you guys the best!

Cheers

Martin

[Ray Proudfoot 8,924]

Hi Nicki,

Thanks for your latest post and clarification on the clamping system to the desk. I forgot to ask how the yoke stays fixed to the sheet. Clearly it needs to be easily removable but I'm not sure how it would be. Can you clarify this please?

[Nicki Repenning 17]

12 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Hi Nicki,

Thanks for your latest post and clarification on the clamping system to the desk. I forgot to ask how the yoke stays fixed to the sheet. Clearly it needs to be easily removable but I'm not sure how it would be. Can you clarify this please?

It's not just a sheet, it is a plastic plate with the material (developed by 3M) on the under side. On the top side there are tabs (male) for the yoke and on the actual yoke, holes (female) for the tabs with a locking mechanism to hold it into place. I hope that explains it better.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,924]

22 minutes ago, Nicki Repenning said:

It's not just a sheet, it is a plastic plate with the material (developed by 3M) on the under side. On the top side there are tabs (male) for the yoke and on the actual yoke, holes (female) for the tabs with a locking mechanism to hold it into place. I hope that explains it better.

Thanks Nicki, that’s very helpful. It sounds like removing the yoke would take a matter of seconds.

[Gabe777 132]

Just have bolt inserts (as in steering wheels) so we can bolt it securely to a piece of wood or a GT Stand..... any movement in this unit is going to render it unuseable.

 

Why compromise the entire project over something so fundamental ?

 

And Ray, what about detents.....? This is surely the second most pertinent aspect: the one that no-one else has managed to overcome for under 500 bucks !

 

...... and, "3-D model, broken on arrival" ? Crikey.... you guys really were having a bad day, weren't you. (Rhetorical).

 

Personally: a "5 year warranty, space grade materials, Hall Sensors, all for 200 bucks".....? Hmmm.... I'll believe it when I see it.

 

And why does the APR button on the throttle quadrant STILL say 'ARP' in all the art work / photos ? What even is ARP...... "arp...proach" ?  Really ? I've been banging on about that one for a year already.

[HighBypass 2,339]

29 minutes ago, Gabe777 said:

.... any movement in this unit is going to render it unuseable....

True indeed. However, how strong are the axes centring forces going to be at full deflections? If those forces are not strong enough to break the "nano" suction cups, then the yoke would stay put, surely?

[Gabe777 132]

Well if its a six inch axis, that's gonna put a lot of tilt pressure at the front of the desk....and if you are wrestling with a 40 knot crosswind in Alaska, it aint gonna be pretty.

Just stick threaded female inserts into the base..... then you can hard mount if you prefer. Its not rocket science.... and they quote NASA in their blurb somewhere !

Oh the irony.

Plastic 3M sticky pads..... Oh come on ! Seriously ? Plastic sticky mounts and a 5 year warranty. So glad I'm not a shareholder. If I was their accountant, I'd have a massive contingent liability in the Balance Sheet from year 1. The returns will be off the chart. After all, a yoke without a proper, solid mounting, is a useless lump of plastic.

[HighBypass 2,339]

tilt pressure - only if you vertically push down or pull up with your hands - I wouldn't have thought that the weight of the yoke and shaft would create too much of a moment arm. I know,  I'm playing devil's advocate!

In theory you're only pushing the yoke away from you or pulling it towards you - once you hit the stops then the pressure would increase. Likewise for roll input - once you hit the stops you'll be trying to lever the yoke sideways. As you say, things would get a bit boisterous wrestling crosswinds, but I reckon tilt pressure is an unnatural force to apply to a yoke and may only happen once (if) you hit the stops. Actually only the pressure applied from hitting the roll stops would exert a tilt pressure trying to lever the unit off the pad. Either pushing or pulling the yoke would only exert a shearing force. I don't think anyone tries to lever a Cessna's yoke up through the top of the instrument panel - they may try and pull it out of the panel I guess! 

Certainly makes for an interesting debate until Honeycomb release more details. 

[vortex681 806]

This is all no more than pure speculation about how good or bad the mount is going to be. Until someone tries the final version we've got no idea how about well it will work. Why not just wait and see and then we'll know for sure? I'm sure they realise that no matter how good the rest of it is, if the mount doesn't work it won't sell.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,924]

12 hours ago, Gabe777 said:

And Ray, what about detents.....? This is surely the second most pertinent aspect: the one that no-one else has managed to overcome for under 500 bucks !

The detents are operated by separate levers that have to be retracted all the way rearwards and then engage. Similar to the Saitek but with several inches of travel compared to Saitek's 1/2". And they only work when the throttles are fully retracted.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,924]

10 hours ago, Gabe777 said:

Well if its a six inch axis, that's gonna put a lot of tilt pressure at the front of the desk....and if you are wrestling with a 40 knot crosswind in Alaska, it aint gonna be pretty.

Just stick threaded female inserts into the base..... then you can hard mount if you prefer. Its not rocket science.... and they quote NASA in their blurb somewhere !

Oh the irony.

Plastic 3M sticky pads..... Oh come on ! Seriously ? Plastic sticky mounts and a 5 year warranty. So glad I'm not a shareholder. If I was their accountant, I'd have a massive contingent liability in the Balance Sheet from year 1. The returns will be off the chart. After all, a yoke without a proper, solid mounting, is a useless lump of plastic.

So you're condemning something before you've even seen it or read a report from someone who has?

If you've thought of those situations do you not think Honeycomb will have too and designed the yoke to be able to cope?

[BuddyDog 36]

I think this sounds very promising, regardless of what the clampers think.

[blackopscc1 14]

Any news or updates as to progress on TQ? Was really looking forward to this unit as an alternative to buying double Saitek TQs for my Aerowinx set up. Unit looks really promising.

[Ray Proudfoot 8,924]

@blackopscc1, Honeycomb will be releasing the yoke in Q1 2018. There is no news about a release date for the TQ.