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Ray Proudfoot

Quality Throttle Quadrant for 2/4 engine jets wanted

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My flying is 90% with jets. Currently PMDG737 whilst I wait for FS Labs 64-bit Concorde. I also occasionally fly a Lear 25 and Carenado PC-12. I don’t have a huge hangar of aircraft - just those.

Having had Saitek Throttle Quadrants for 12 years - now on my second pair - I’m really looking for something significantly better. Budget is not an issue.

Now here is my quandary. The best out there appears to be the VirtualFly TQ6 Plus. Steel construction, hall-effect sensors and a good mounting system that doesn’t take up much desk space. Adjustable friction is also a big asset. All good so far.

But here is the issue. The VirtualFly is designed for twin-engine aircraft with Mixture and Prop controls. Because of the design you can’t easily assign the four middle levers to a four-engine aircraft. That’s the single advantage of a pair of Saiteks.

Those of you using the VirtualFly who fly 2/4 engine jets how do you get on with the quadrant? I really can’t see anything better but it’s the issue with 4 engine jets that’s holding me back.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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I have it yet (I will as soon as possible), but from everything I've heard, I believe Honeycomb will be the fantastic.  I'm hoping to speak with them sometime in the next few weeks.

Best wishes my friend!

 

 


Dave Hodges

 

System Specs:  I9-13900KF, NVIDIA 4070TI, Quest 3, Multiple Displays, Lots of TERRIFIC friends, 3 cats, and a wonderfully stubborn wife.

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26 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

My flying is 90% with jets. Currently PMDG737 whilst I wait for FS Labs 64-bit Concorde. I also occasionally fly a Lear 25 and Carenado PC-12. I don’t have a huge hangar of aircraft - just those.

Having had Saitek Throttle Quadrants for 12 years - now on my second pair - I’m really looking for something significantly better. Budget is not an issue.

Now here is my quandary. The best out there appears to be the VirtualFly TQ6 Plus. Steel construction, hall-effect sensors and a good mounting system that doesn’t take up much desk space. Adjustable friction is also a big asset. All good so far.

But here is the issue. The VirtualFly is designed for twin-engine aircraft with Mixture and Prop controls. Because of the design you can’t easily assign the four middle levers to a four-engine aircraft. That’s the single advantage of a pair of Saiteks.

Those of you using the VirtualFly who fly 2/4 engine jets how do you get on with the quadrant? I really can’t see anything better but it’s the issue with 4 engine jets that’s holding me back.

I have had the TQ6 + for about a month now, and am extremely pleased with it. The quality of construction is superb. Even more heavy-duty than I expected.

With my recently-acquired TM TPR rudder pedals, my sim controls are now using hall effect sensors in all axes.

It has made flying simulated jet aircraft without autothrottles (such as the Aerosoft CRJ) a real pleasure. The levers have a lot of "throw", which gives a substantial range between idle and 100 percent. Of course, with the hall effect sensors, there are absolutely no noise spikes or other glitches. Position control is precise and repeatable. 

There is no problem assigning the prop levers to act as throttles 3 and 4 insofar as P3D or X-Plane control menus are concerned  You are probably referring to the physical spacing between the first and second pair of levers. It is a bit awkward at first when using the prop levers as additional throttles on a four-engine aircraft, but I have gotten used to it. My sim desk layout requires that I mount the quadrant to the left side. I grasp the two prop levers between the thumb and index finger of my left hand, and wrap the ring and little fingers around the "real" throttles (one on each). Doing so, I am able to move them all together quite precisely. Should not be a problem with normal hand width and no dexterity impediments such as arthritis.

Jim Barrett 

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Jim Barrett

Licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, Avionics, Electrical & Air Data Systems Specialist. Qualified on: Falcon 900, CRJ-200, Dornier 328-100, Hawker 850XP and 1000, Lear 35, 45, 55 and 60, Gulfstream IV and 550, Embraer 135, Beech Premiere and 400A, MD-80.

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Thanks Jim. God blessed me with large hands so handling all four levers should not be an issue. I was curious how many others were using the TQ6+ that way. Do you find you can keep the levers in roughly the same position for a 4-engine takeoff?

Can it be mounted the same way as the Saitek? On desk or in front of desk? The latter would help with desk space.

Do you miss the buttons the Saitek provided? If so, how have you solved that?


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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27 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

I have it yet (I will as soon as possible), but from everything I've heard, I believe Honeycomb will be the fantastic.  I'm hoping to speak with them sometime in the next few weeks.

Best wishes my friend!

Dave, I’ve seen nothing about the Honeycomb throttle quadrant but given it’s hardly any more expensive than a pair of Saiteks I don’t hold out much hope it will be a significant upgrade. Plastic and pots compared to metal and hall-effect sensors.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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Ray im looking at mine and Im going to do a experiment with the prop levers. It looks like I can move the nobs over to the left by turning them around. Ill get back to you shortly.  Josh

Edited by FreeBird(Josh)

CPU: Intel i9-11900K @5.2 / RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200 / GPU: 4080 16GB /

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I am interested in this topic...and wondering how you guys handle reverse thrust?

Currently using two Saitek quadrants with a 737 lever mod which includes reverse thrust levers and switches. Its been very good, but it's got many hours on it and showing signs of decline...as am I. 🙂      


i7-9700K, MSI Z370, PNY 4070 Super, GTX 750Ti, 32GB GSkill, 43" curved Samsung, 32" BenQ, 11" LED, RealSImGear GTN750, Win10,

P3DV5.4/P3DV6 and MSFS, several GoFlight modules, Saitek radio, Brunner CLS-E NG Yoke, Virtual Fly TQ6.

 

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Just now, Ray Proudfoot said:

Dave, I’ve seen nothing about the Honeycomb throttle quadrant but given it’s hardly any more expensive than a pair of Saiteks I don’t hold out much hope it will be a significant upgrade. Plastic and pots compared to metal and hall-effect sensors.

Once I have the Yoke and Throttle Quadrant, I'll be testing and reporting on them.  I have many years in both electronics/computer engineering and quality control, so I'm seriously looking forward to evaluating their hardware!

They say some positive things about their processes on their website, but they didn't say too much about internal components and that's what really matters, not the outside shell.  And they offer a 5 year warranty!

Anyway, I can't wait to get my hands on them and give them a really good evaluation.

Best wishes.

 


Dave Hodges

 

System Specs:  I9-13900KF, NVIDIA 4070TI, Quest 3, Multiple Displays, Lots of TERRIFIC friends, 3 cats, and a wonderfully stubborn wife.

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Just now, Chocorua said:

I am interested in this topic...and wondering how you guys handle reverse thrust?

Currently using two Saitek quadrants with a 737 lever mod which includes reverse thrust levers and switches. Its been very good, but it's got many hours on it and showing signs of decline...as am I. 🙂      

Reverse works perfect. Watch some of the videos for details.


CPU: Intel i9-11900K @5.2 / RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200 / GPU: 4080 16GB /

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13 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Thanks Jim. God blessed me with large hands so handling all four levers should not be an issue. I was curious how many others were using the TQ6+ that way. Do you find you can keep the levers in roughly the same position for a 4-engine takeoff?

Can it be mounted the same way as the Saitek? On desk or in front of desk? The latter would help with desk space.

Do you miss the buttons the Saitek provided? If so, how have you solved that?

Ray I turned the nobs around and it brings everything over by a half inch. If you added some small spacers you could get it over about 3/4inch which feels doable.   The only concern I have is the levers are lower than the throttle levers if that bothers you. Once you touch one of these you will never go back to plastic.  I have mine velcroed to my desk and have no issues. You can also use the clamp and or screw it in from the bottom. Josh


CPU: Intel i9-11900K @5.2 / RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200 / GPU: 4080 16GB /

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6 minutes ago, FreeBird(Josh) said:

Reverse works perfect. Watch some of the videos for details.

OK thank you, I wasn't aware of the switches at the bottom of the lever travel...looks like my next purchase.

cheers


i7-9700K, MSI Z370, PNY 4070 Super, GTX 750Ti, 32GB GSkill, 43" curved Samsung, 32" BenQ, 11" LED, RealSImGear GTN750, Win10,

P3DV5.4/P3DV6 and MSFS, several GoFlight modules, Saitek radio, Brunner CLS-E NG Yoke, Virtual Fly TQ6.

 

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21 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

Once I have the Yoke and Throttle Quadrant, I'll be testing and reporting on them.  I have many years in both electronics/computer engineering and quality control, so I'm seriously looking forward to evaluating their hardware!

They say some positive things about their processes on their website, but they didn't say too much about internal components and that's what really matters, not the outside shell.  And they offer a 5 year warranty!

I suspect the reason they don’t discuss components is because they use pots and not hall-effect. The quality may be higher than Saitek but not enough for me.

I will look forward to hearing your views on it.

13 minutes ago, FreeBird(Josh) said:

Ray I turned the nobs around and it brings everything over by a half inch. If you added some small spacers you could get it over about 3/4inch which feels doable.   The only concern I have is the levers are lower than the throttle levers if that bothers you. Once you touch one of these you will never go back to plastic.  I have mine velcroed to my desk and have no issues. You can also use the clamp and or screw it in from the bottom. Josh

Thanks Josh. It seems those of you flying 4-engine jets are not put off by the lever arrangement.

I’ve chewed over a replacement throttle quadrant for a long time but so few quality ones make it onto the market. VirtualFly have been around for some time and have a proven reputation. They also ship immediately instead of building the units when ordered.

The TQ6+ gives me 90% of what I need and should never need replacing. Compared to GoFlight and others it doesn’t seem to have any flaws which is testament to a well designed unit.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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32 minutes ago, Chocorua said:

I am interested in this topic...and wondering how you guys handle reverse thrust?

Currently using two Saitek quadrants with a 737 lever mod which includes reverse thrust levers and switches. Its been very good, but it's got many hours on it and showing signs of decline...as am I. 🙂      

Once you watch a few videos you’ll see the huge difference in quality between the Saiteks and the VirtualFly. A plastic flimsy click compared to a heavy substantial clunk makes the VirtualFly so much more attractive and realistic.

If your serious about flying and can afford them these TQ6+ are the next best thing to the real units.

One other thing I thought about with a 4 engine jet is to assign engines 1 & 2 to the left throttle and 3 & 4 to the right. The prop axes could then become reverse thrust for the same combination. Anyone tried that? It’s possible via FSUIPC only.


Ray (Cheshire, England).
System: P3D v5.3HF2, Intel i9-13900K, MSI 4090 GAMING X TRIO 24G, Crucial T700 4Tb M.2 SSD, Asus ROG Maximus Z790 Hero, 32Gb Corsair Vengeance DDR5 6000Mhz RAM, Win 11 Pro 64-bit, BenQ PD3200U 32” UHD monitor, Fulcrum One yoke.
Cheadle Hulme Weather

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1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

One other thing I thought about with a 4 engine jet is to assign engines 1 & 2 to the left throttle and 3 & 4 to the right. The prop axes could then become reverse thrust for the same combination. Anyone tried that? It’s possible via FSUIPC only.

Here is a picture of the setup for engine 1  with spadnext.   FSUIPC is similar. Also there is no calibration necessary just set the perimeters and go.

  19_tq6.jpg

Edited by FreeBird(Josh)

CPU: Intel i9-11900K @5.2 / RAM: 32GB DDR4 3200 / GPU: 4080 16GB /

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2 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Thanks Jim. God blessed me with large hands so handling all four levers should not be an issue. I was curious how many others were using the TQ6+ that way. Do you find you can keep the levers in roughly the same position for a 4-engine takeoff?

Can it be mounted the same way as the Saitek? On desk or in front of desk? The latter would help with desk space.

Do you miss the buttons the Saitek provided? If so, how have you solved that?

Ray,

No problem at all keeping the four levers close together when advancing or retracting when gripped as I described.

The mounting bracket can be screwed onto the bottom of the quadrant so it can be mounted on top of a desk or table - or it can be screwed into the back for mounting in front. There is a single threaded clamp in the center of the bracket. The bracket, like the quadrant itself, is of heavy metal construction.

Originally, I had a 6-lever CH quadrant on one side, which has been replaced by the TQ6+, and a 3-lever Saitek quadrant on the other side, which I still have.

I use one axis of the Saitek for spoilers, and the other for nosewheel steering.

I do miss having the 6 two-position switches on the CH yoke, but I have re-assigned some of their functions to the 3-two position switches on the Saitek, and others to a couple of the aux switches on the Hotas Warthog joystick that I was not using for anything else.

Jim Barrett

 


Jim Barrett

Licensed Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic, Avionics, Electrical & Air Data Systems Specialist. Qualified on: Falcon 900, CRJ-200, Dornier 328-100, Hawker 850XP and 1000, Lear 35, 45, 55 and 60, Gulfstream IV and 550, Embraer 135, Beech Premiere and 400A, MD-80.

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