I expect you were expecting to see a link to a great bit of hardware. Sadly I can't do that because I have yet to find what for me would be the perfect throttle quadrant.

So let me describe what would be something I would buy as soon as it became available and the price wouldn't be a major deterrent unless it  was extremely silly money.

I'm going to surprise you by saying the template for it would be the Logitech / Saitek Throttle Quadrant with some changes / improvements. That unit ticks so many boxes.

• It would be a six lever unit - so two Logitech style units combined into one with a single USB connection.
• It would have a metal case with metal levers and interchangeable plastic caps.
• The four middle axes would control engines 1-4 with the left-most for spoiler and the right-most for flaps. But each axis could be configurable for smaller aircraft and however you want to configure it.
• There should be a detente area beyond idle for reverse thrust. Separate reverse thrust levers would make the unit considerably wider and more unweildy.
• Hall-effect sensors throughout.
• At the idle setting the levers would be 30 degrees off the horizontal axis, not zero as the current ones are. This would allow the user to grab and move all four in one easy movement just as they are in a real aircraft.
• There would be an adjustable tension knob so the user could configure friction that best suited them.
• There would be a bank of toggle buttons beneath each lever just as the Logitech has.
• Two options for mounting. Either sat on a pedestal (suitably heavy) or clamped to the desk edge giving the user maximum flexibility. It would overhang behind the desk freeing up desk space but the solid clamp would keep it in position.
• Caps on levers would be interchangable with black, red and blue available.

The closest I've found is Virtual Fly's TQ6 Plus but that is for a twin-engine turbo-prop and they have no plans for a Boeing-style unit.

I know someone who is looking at designing a throttle quadrant so I might point him to this topic. I'm sure many of you looking for a decent quadrant might have your own ideas. Feel free to air them. If anyone can design the above they'd make me a happy chap. 😁

Hi Ray,

I've been following the control threads with much interest lately especially pertaining to Honeycomb which keeps me back and forth between enthusiasm and reluctance as we've discussed before. The more time I spend researching seems I just settle back to what I have which is the CH yoke and quad. At least in my financial strata. 

Both have given me good service for a decade. I have nine axis with six on the quadrant and three on yoke. The yoke is set up for spoiler, flaps and reverse axis. The quadrant for four throttles, prop and mixture with twelve programmable buttons. You can set up various profiles to save to your contentment.

I've seen no degradation in performance from either one to date. As we discussed before the throttle could use a little more throw distance.

With what I've seen of late if necessary I think I would just replace those with the same if need be. Unless Honeycomb gets up and flying high in a year or so. I m sure those thousand dollar jobs are great but not with in my reach.

Hi Vic,

Two years ago I had high hopes for the Honeycomb yoke but then Fulcrum came along and they are my preferred company for a yoke. Having tried the Honeycomb throttle quadrant at Cosford I wasn’t impressed and consider it in the same league as Logitech perhaps a few places further up the table.

Having visited a friend on many occasions who has a full Boeing cockpit the difference between my Logitech and his PFC quadrant is night and day. There’s a solid feel to how the throttles operate than is just impossible for a $100 quadrant to get close to. The PFC kit is over a grand but that price is seriously inflated because of the weak Pound Sterling. A British sourced quadrant would be ideal.

Many years ago I had a CH yoke and it lasted a fair time but its plastic shaft let it down and I switched to the Saitek. The throttle quadrant came as part of the deal. I’ve used the CH throttles and agree with you that the short throw is a drawback. But so is the feel. Your moving a plastic lever which has no friction and feels unsubstantial. The closest I got was the TQ6 Plus which has a nice feel to it but is totally unsuited to Boeing style aircraft.

I have the CH pedals and they’ve lasted around 8 years but when compared to serious kit like the Thrustmaster TPRs you can see what the extra money gives you. And the pots will eventually fail meaning the whole unit is probably unusable as replacements can’t be sourced and fitted.

I’ve had plastic hardware all my sim life - around 25 years - and want to move up to the next level. Hopefully that will be possible before too much longer.

2 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Hi Vic,

Two years ago I had high hopes for the Honeycomb yoke but then Fulcrum came along and they are my preferred company for a yoke. Having tried the Honeycomb throttle quadrant at Cosford I wasn’t impressed and consider it in the same league as Logitech perhaps a few places further up the table.

Having visited a friend on many occasions who has a full Boeing cockpit the difference between my Logitech and his PFC quadrant is night and day. There’s a solid feel to how the throttles operate than is just impossible for a $100 quadrant to get close to. The PFC kit is over a grand but that price is seriously inflated because of the weak Pound Sterling. A British sourced quadrant would be ideal.

Many years ago I had a CH yoke and it lasted a fair time but its plastic shaft let it down and I switched to the Saitek. The throttle quadrant came as part of the deal. I’ve used the CH throttles and agree with you that the short throw is a drawback. But so is the feel. Your moving a plastic lever which has no friction and feels unsubstantial. The closest I got was the TQ6 Plus which has a nice feel to it but is totally unsuited to Boeing style aircraft.

I have the CH pedals and they’ve lasted around 8 years but when compared to serious kit like the Thrustmaster TPRs you can see what the extra money gives you. And the pots will eventually fail meaning the whole unit is probably unusable as replacements can’t be sourced and fitted.

I’ve had plastic hardware all my sim life - around 25 years - and want to move up to the next level. Hopefully that will be possible before too much longer.

I guess control kits are like everything else in life, you don't always get what you pay for but you certainly are not going to get what you don't pay for. I would love to move into that tier one category of equipment but just hard to justify to the little woman. Of course my neighbor has a $30000 bass boat. Simming is a rather frugal hobby compared to some.

Since you've had both are the Logitech throttles feel more realistic than CH?

I haven't has a yoke or TQ in a while but if I was going to get one I'd get the exact same one I used to have. Saitek! And then I'd customize it to meet my requirements.

All the other option and either worthless or far too expensive.

5 hours ago, PATCO LCH said:

I guess control kits are like everything else in life, you don't always get what you pay for but you certainly are not going to get what you don't pay for. I would love to move into that tier one category of equipment but just hard to justify to the little woman. Of course my neighbor has a $30000 bass boat. Simming is a rather frugal hobby compared to some.

Since you've had both are the Logitech throttles feel more realistic than CH?

I have no expensive habits like smoking or drinking so don't feel guilty about wanting the best experience with flight simming. Your neighbour no doubt thinks that is money well invested as do we with what we spend in our hobby. Once you buy the computer the software is reasonably cheap. Good quality hardware can last ages. I'm still using my GoFlight units I bought in 2003. I'm sure the same would apply to a quality yoke and associated kit.

4 hours ago, Avidean said:

I haven't has a yoke or TQ in a while but if I was going to get one I'd get the exact same one I used to have. Saitek! And then I'd customize it to meet my requirements.

All the other option and either worthless or far too expensive.

That's a personal opinion you're perfectly entitled to.

14 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

That's a personal opinion you're perfectly entitled to.

Which is British for "you're a loony"

2 minutes ago, TechguyMaxC said:

Which is British for "you're a loony"

No it isn’t. It’s British for “I may disagree with you but you’re entitled to your opinion.” 😉

On 10/11/2019 at 5:09 PM, Ray Proudfoot said:

No it isn’t. It’s British for “I may disagree with you but you’re entitled to your opinion.” 😉

Same thing (which is precisely my point) 😁

14 minutes ago, TechguyMaxC said:

Same thing (which is precisely my point) 😁

You may think you know what I meant but I can assure you you’re well wide of the mark.

Now let’s get this discussion back on topic.