Honeycomb Bravo Throttle Quadrant

[gaab 111]

On 9/22/2020 at 4:09 PM, DaveCT2003 said:

EARLY impression after 6 hours of use and taking it completely apart:  INCREDIBLE.  Quality control was even more impressive that the Honeycomb Yoke.  That's all for now

Hi Dave,

Any new of your detailed review ofthis "most waited" Bravo ?

Hope your are well

Gérard

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

1 hour ago, gaab said:

Hi Dave,

Any new of your detailed review ofthis "most waited" Bravo ?

Hope your are well

Gérard

I do have news!  Honeycomb asked me to come aboard and help them and I've not only been working 12+ hours a day 7 days a week since then but also since I now represent the company I didn't think it was appropriate or ethically sound for me to review the product, and I truly do care about ethics and my reputation (aka what you guys think of me), and I care about flight simmers and most of all I care about our community.

I'm happy to tell you what I think about it though.

First, my technical background. I'm an old, formally retired guy with a very strong background in electronics and computer hardware engineering, and I am also a quality assurance engineer, and technical program manager for weapons systems with the US Navy.

Second, this is a technical perspective on the unit, if you're looking for an even keeled operational review I recommend the video HERE.

With my background you might not be surprised to learn that the first thing I did when I received the Bravo (just two days before my home took a direct hit from Hurricane Sally and sustained about $65,000 of damage) was take it apart - in fact I stripped that puppy down to parade rest to not only see what made it tick, but equally as important to check the quality of the design, engineering and assembly.

Praise is hard won from me, but in this case I was impressed at the quality of the manufacturing and design - so much in fact that I had videos made of the factory, because I used to inspect defense contractor sites and I wanted to see it (and with COVID, traveling there was more of a risk than I was willing to take).  I was again very impressed by what I saw.

So this unit is not some plastic hunk of junk. It is plastic, but designed in such a way that you'll forget about that pretty quickly as it's quality inside and out and while it's not designed to be abused it is designed to last many years.  The first time you throw on the levers, get the tensioner adjusted and move the levers you will be hooked - you really will!  Also, for you airline drivers out there, you'll have a hard time not operating the reverser levers back and forth and back and forth while giggling and laughing a bit like the joker!  In my case my wife came in my office to see what all the commotion was about and I said "hey honey, come look at this!", of course she was about as impressed as you imagine (meaning she shook her head, turned around and walked out!  As if it deterred me a single bit.... back and forth and back and... wah-hahhahahahahahaha!  They are just too cool.  They are not an axis though, they initiate a switch that trigger reverse thrust and per usual the reverse thrust can be adjusted in sims like FSX and P3D, otherwise it's at maximum reverse thrust (which is just fine).  If you use the GA levers (yep, you get a set of Commercial and GA levers) then there is also a detent you can push through to initiate a switch action that can be used for reverse thrust just like on Saitek T/C.

 

You guys already know that with the six (Six!) lever axis you also get an:

1. Auto Pilot Panel.

2. Switch Panel.

3. Annunicator Panel.

4, Gear Lever (with three programmable lights and three different color options).

5. Auto Pilot On/Off Switch.

6. Go Around or Auto Throttle Disconnect Switch on the Thrust levers.

7. Thrust Reversers on the Commercial Levers (of which 4 are provided) with a programmable switch in one of them.

8. Six color coded GA levers (with a programmable switch in one of them).

9. Trim Wheel. The trim wheel is genius.  Instead of being an axis that requires very special software to be read by your favorite flight simulator, moving the trim wheel forward or backwards triggers a different switch action that can be assigned to Elevator Trim Up/Down. This really is genius. Any of you who had the Saitek Trim Wheels will remember the problems with those due to being a infinite 360 degree axis - beat, done, over!  This Trim Wheel works extremely well and because of the design zero is always zero!

What I like most about the Bravo is how quickly and easily I can configure it for the type of aircraft I want to fly and there are black rudder dust covers to close off the levers and slots you aren't using (see photo below) - genius!

Things I don't like?  There should have either been an backlit LED or at least a white strip on the left Auto Pilot selection knob so you could easily tell which position the switch is in, I would have put the Annunicator Panel up higher (there is room for it), and I would have found a way to reduce the desktop space it takes up - however another company has a terrific little pedestal stand that attaches to your desktop for about $69 that i recently ordered and that will resolve the desktop space for me.

The quality of the Bravo and all you get with it for a retail price of only $250 makes this a slam dunk decision. Now the bad news.  Honeycomb sold out of the Bravo in 3 minutes when they (now "we") made it available for Pre-Order on  September 1st, 2020.  While Honeycomb won't have any in stock for quite a while, the retailers (available on the Honeycomb website) will be receiving orders in December, January and February.  The good news is that we're looking to double our production in the next few months so the "where can I get an Alpha or Bravo thing is going to change. The situation now is what happens you build awesome products and sell them for far less than you could while packing in all those features!

Honeycomb's CEO is no stranger to the gaming world and he is devoted to beating down the high prices of flight sim controllers.  With the Alpha and Bravo, he proved it, and proved it can be done! I'm sold, and I'm very, very proud to represent two incredible companies doing awesome things for the community I love, Aerosoft and Honeycomb!

Well that's about it. I love it, I was devoted to Honeycomb before I went to work for them, and I'm not parting with my Bravo for any of you guys.... back and forth, back and forth, back and.... Wah-hahahahahahahaha!

 

 

Edited November 15, 2020 by DaveCT2003

[gaab 111]

Thanks for this comments.

I am really impatient to get a detail review of the software (for P3D)  which will be critical for the ease of use and versatility.of the Bravo.

Cheers

Gérard

[vgbaron 3,590]

Just got my Alpha Yoke and am equally impressed with the quality of the product. My Bravo is on order and I'm in Production week 4 which I believe is around December 16.

Vic

[Samaritano 304]

On 11/15/2020 at 5:57 AM, DaveCT2003 said:

- however another company has a terrific little pedestal stand that attaches to your desktop for about $69 that i recently ordered and that will resolve the desktop space for me.

Are you talking about the TM Flying Clamp? I was thinking about getting one of those but the dimensions for the clamp are almost 9” wide and the Bravo throttle is 11” wide. Didn’t think it was going to fit. Unless you are talking about another clamp. 
Would  be interested to know. 
 

 

I went back and took another look at TM’s Flying Clamp. It looks like you can place the Bravo throttle and it will have a little overhang on the side but the throttle can be secured under the flying clamp and that should do it. 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Samaritano

[109Sqn 1,557]

 Surprise, surprise, Amazon have notified of a further delay.🙄

Quote

Unfortunately, the release date for the item(s) listed below was changed by the supplier, and we need to provide you with a new estimated delivery date based on the new release date:

  "Bravo Throttle Quadrant - Honeycomb Aeronautical PC"
    Estimated arrival date: December 16 2020

That's a slip of 13 days since I ordered it. I don't know of this will relate to @vgbaron's Production Week 4 or if it's just Amazon posting a random date that Aerosoft have given them for some people's orders being processed.

The way things are going, I'll probably still be flying with my gamepad in the New Year.😒

Edited November 26, 2020 by 109Sqn

[fppilot 4,360]

On 11/15/2020 at 5:57 AM, DaveCT2003 said:

however another company has a terrific little pedestal stand that attaches to your desktop for about $69 that i recently ordered and that will resolve the desktop space for me

 

On 11/17/2020 at 11:15 AM, Samaritano said:

TM Flying Clamp

Is this what you are referring to?

 

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

3 hours ago, fppilot said:

 

Is this what you are referring to?

 

 

Yeah, that's it.  I ordered one, installed it two days ago with the Bravo and it comes out much too far to be of use with the Bravo.  I'm working on an under the desk mount for mine, but this isn't something we at Honeycomb can really market due to the number of different desk configurations, and something like the TM mount won't work either.  Time to build that prototype pedestal I think!  LOL!

Happy Thanksgiving Frank, you're one of the people who makes the Flight Sim Community a great place!

Best wishes.

 

 

[gaab 111]

1 hour ago, DaveCT2003 said:

Time to build that prototype pedestal I think! 

Once you get it right, please share your drawings 😉

Gérard

[109Sqn 1,557]

9 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

 Surprise, surprise, Amazon have notified of a further delay.

Having checked my Amazon order, it shows delivery due on December 23rd.🙄

[Malaromane 421]

On 11/26/2020 at 4:46 PM, DaveCT2003 said:

Yeah, that's it.  I ordered one, installed it two days ago with the Bravo and it comes out much too far to be of use with the Bravo.  I'm working on an under the desk mount for mine, but this isn't something we at Honeycomb can really market due to the number of different desk configurations, and something like the TM mount won't work either.  Time to build that prototype pedestal I think!  LOL

I'm hoping that AllSportSystems will release an updated version of their LowRider that has been modified to accept the Alpha and the Bravo:
https://www.allsportsystems.com/flight-simulator-under-desk-yoke-mount.php

Really looking forward to receiving my Bravo in the next few months.

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

7 hours ago, Malaromane said:

I'm hoping that AllSportSystems will release an updated version of their LowRider that has been modified to accept the Alpha and the Bravo:
https://www.allsportsystems.com/flight-simulator-under-desk-yoke-mount.php

Really looking forward to receiving my Bravo in the next few months.

We have inquired with them to evaluate their product.  We want to ensure that lateral and medial stress (from operating the pitch and roll axis) would not place undue stress on the screw sockets on the underside of the univeral mounting system (bracket).  The screw sockets in question were not designed to support the weight of the Alpha or Bravo, nor where they designed to take the repeated stress created  by normal operation.  We hope to hear back from this company very soon.

 

[KevyKevTPA 46]

On 8/23/2020 at 4:14 AM, Slides said:

$4K? You sure you didn't build a nuclear reactor instead?

I've got almost $6K in mine, and that's before I get the Bravo TQS.  Now, that includes everything but the kitchen sink, including my desk, the whole house networking gear, prices (some estimated) of older items that came from my old system, multiple headphones (one of which gets used for things other than my peecee), webcam, monitor stand, both displays (one that is old), extra fans, RGB strips, a couple of discarded/retired items, and so on.  Grand total (as of this moment) is $5,965.44, and add $249.99 (plus tax and shipping if applicable) for the Bravo if/when I can find it somewhere.  And that doesn't include my NAS, which I probably should put in there, even though it's used for much more than just my peecee. 

I'm glad I have the NAS, it's very useful, but it was probably a luxury indulgence that hindsight says was unnecessary.  But then I wouldn't have daily/weekly/monthly backups, backups for other systems in the house, a place for all my videos accessible anywhere on the planet (assuming I have Internet connectivity), and hopefully soon to be security footage, but I have to find cameras I like.  (More $$ there, too!)  If I didn't have it, at a bare minimum I would have to add a spinner to my primary system to put all my muvees and videos onto.  

Full list (less the NAS) is below...  It's kinda scary, but I bet most folks don't even realize how much they've actually spent all-in...  It's really easy for it to add up quick, especially when we add multiple "Well, it's only $20" (or $15, or $50, or whatever) that we don't even keep track of...  Of course the good news is that it's a really stout high-end system (despite the "existence of 30-series stuff now), with a slew of useful (but in some cases expensive) peripherals.  

KKT

 

Component	Product	Verified Cost
CPU	Intel Core i5-10600K 4.1 GHz 6-Core Processor	$289.99
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler	$74.85
Cooler Additional Fan	Noctua NF-F12 Heavy Duty Cooling Fan, 4-pin, 3000 rpm, 120mm, black	$28.50
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX Z490-E GAMING ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	$303.56
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$144.44
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$144.44
Storage	Samsung 860 Evo 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$353.09
Storage	Samsung 850 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$129.99
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$203.29
GPU	EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card	$579.49
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P600S ATX Mid Tower Case	$168.98
Case Fan	Phanteks PH-F140MP_BBK_PWM, 500- 1600RPM, Frame/Blades 140mm	$18.99
Vertical Mount Cable	Phanteks PH-CBRS_PR22 – 220mm Premium Shielded PCI-E 3.0 x16 Riser Cable	$42.79
Case RGB Strip	Phanteks PH-LEDKT_M4 -- 400mm RGB strip, magnetic	$11.98
RGB Extension Cable	Micro Connectors F04-RGB01-50 50cm RGB Extension Cable  (DISCARDED)	$3.99
Case RGB Strip	PC RGB LED Strip Light, 2PCS 42LEDs for 12V 4-Pin RGB LED Header	$16.01
Power Supply	Corsair CXM V2 (2017) 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$112.34
GPU Power Cable	ATX 8 Pin Male to Dual PCIe 8(6+2) Pin Male	$13.99
PSU Cable Extensions	Antec PSU Cable Extension Kit	$39.95
USB Hub	Powered USB Hub - ACASIS 10 Ports 48W USB 3.0 Data Hub	$49.99
Keyboard	Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT Mechanical Gaming Keyboard	$169.99
Mouse	Corsair DARK CORE RGB PRO CH-9315411-NA	$74.99
Webcam	Logitech c922x Pro Stream 1080p Webcam	$53.49
Headphones	Bose Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Headphones 700, with Alexa Voice Control	$345.79
Headphones	Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum, Wireless RGB 7.1 Dolby and DTS Surround Sound	$85.59
VR HMD	HP Reverb G2 Virtual Reality Headset	$658.91
Game Controller	Xbox/PC USB 2.0 Game Controller	$17.99
Game Controller	Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS	$109.83
Game Controller	Cyborg F.L.Y. 5 Stick USB 2.0  (RETIRED)	$44.00
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit	$139.88
Router	RT-AX3000 Wifi6 Router	$191.53
Cable Modem	ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 Gigabit Cable Modem	$159.43
Desk/Workbench	UltraHD® Adjustable Height Heavy-Duty Wood Top Workbench	$171.18
Monitor Stand	AmazonBasics Premium Single Monitor Stand	$124.12
Monitor #2	AOC M2870VHE 28.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor	$320.99
Monitor #1	Samsung C32HG70 31.5" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$567.09
	Grand Total, Tax/Shipping Included:	$5,965.44

[KevyKevTPA 46]

OK, I'm confused.

In perusing this topic, it seems some have pre-ordered the Bravo from Amazon, but I'm not seeing that option.  Just a handful of scalpers that Amazon should not allow on their system as it sullies their reputation, but perhaps that's a topic for a different day.

At any rate, is there any reputable etailer taking pre-orders for this product at this time?  (For MSRP that is, I don't pay scalper prices out of principal, even if I can afford it.)  I understand I'm gonna have to wait, I just want to get in line somewhere!

Thanks,
KKT

 

I need this:

[109Sqn 1,557]

5 hours ago, KevyKevTPA said:

In perusing this topic, it seems some have pre-ordered the Bravo from Amazon, but I'm not seeing that option. 

"Amazon works in mysterious ways"™

I can only assume they take pre-orders up to a set allocation they expect to receive from their supplier (probably plus a certain percentage over that to allow for cancelled orders). Once that allocation is filled up, they will list the product as unavailable until they receive another allocation. Then again, who knows, they change listings seemingly at random.🙄 I got my pre-order in, but have no realistic expectation of receiving mine by the claimed December 23rd - I'll be amazed and over the moon if I actually do!