Just Got A Honeycomb Alpha Yoke. It's unusable.

[TallTanBarbie 19]

One of the bad things about our modern global economy is that you can't try things out prior to ordering from them.  Back in the old old days, Sears had catalog stores so you could actually see and touch some of the things they sold in their catalogs.  Bit difficult to do that nowadays.  

The Alpha yoke is well made but not well thought out — and it was supposedly designed by people who claim to be pilots.

The roll response is excellent, but the yoke is basically unmovable in pitch.  The. pitch axis resistance is too strong for the yoke to be usable.  At least mine didn't have the dead zone problem that's mentioned in the reviews.  I wish they had mentioned the pitch axis resistance was too heavy though.

I've heard about WW2 era aircraft like the B-24 Liberator and the PBY Catalina that had heavy controls that required a lot of physical effort to fly them, but I've never flown or heard of any general aviation aircraft that had that much resistance in straight and level flight.  I have to use both hands to pull on it in and I just wind up using the trim wheel.  Not fun at all.

I've had several Saitek Cessna yokes over the years and they have all had the bad offset roll signal problem,  but at least they had realistic control axis resistance.  I guess the only thing that I can do now is rebuild one of them but I'm stuck with the Alpha Yoke for now

[SergeyPe 92]

50 minutes ago, TallTanBarbie said:

I guess the only thing that I can do now is rebuild one of them but I'm stuck with the Alpha Yoke for now

Just replace the rubber "ropes" used in Alpha for the weaker ones. There is a huge variety of them available online but also in the household/ DIY shops.

[TallTanBarbie 19]

3 hours ago, SergeyPe said:

Just replace the rubber "ropes" used in Alpha for the weaker ones. There is a huge variety of them available online but also in the household/ DIY shops.

Thanks 🙂

 

[MarkDH 234]

3 hours ago, SergeyPe said:

Just replace the rubber "ropes" used in Alpha for the weaker ones. There is a huge variety of them available online but also in the household/ DIY shops.

That will increase your elevator dead zone, perhaps beyond the point where it will be acceptable. Honeyomb states that the tension is chosen to allow a return to centre within 3mm for the bearings they have used.

[fppilot 4,339]

It is virtually impossible to approximate the across-the-board feel of everything from a home-built experimental, to an aging Cessna 152, to a DA42, to a Bonanza or Baron, to a King Air, to a TBM, to a regional jet, to a 737, to a 747 ◄----▲----► with the resistance employed with one yoke design.  "Give me a piece of that Kit Kat bar......"
                                                       --▼--

Edited March 14, 2021 by fppilot

[MartinRex007 390]

By keeping the aircraft always trimmed as in RL the pitch seems fine to me?

 

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

The average pull on each of the units I've seen/worked on is approximately 5lbs.  If yours in more than that, there is likely a problem with the unit.  

If yours is about 5lbs, this is rather excellent at approximating the about of pull for a wide range of different aircraft under varying conditions.

The Alpha was designed by Precision Flight Controls, very respected outfit.

Best wishes.

 

[TallTanBarbie 19]

1 hour ago, fppilot said:

It is virtually impossible to approximate the across-the-board feel of everything from a home-built experimental, to an aging Cessna 152, to a DA42, to a Bonanza or Baron, to a King Air, to a TBM, to a regional jet, to a 737, to a 747 ◄----▲----► with the resistance employed with one yoke design.  "Give me a piece of that Kit Kat bar......"
                                                       --▼--

True.  As you know, it varies with airspeed. Without feedback, you aren't going to be able to pull the yoke back and have it slide back due to the weight of the elevators, have mushy controls at low airspeed, or feel the ailerons twist it in the wind.  I learned how to fly in a 150 and 172 many moons ago and I've flown several different types of GA aircraft.  Controls this stiff in pitch is are not usable.  I should not have to pull it hard with both hands just to pull the yoke all the way back.

[TallTanBarbie 19]

17 minutes ago, DaveCT2003 said:

The average pull on each of the units I've seen/worked on is approximately 5lbs.  If yours in more than that, there is likely a problem with the unit.  

If yours is about 5lbs, this is rather excellent at approximating the about of pull for a wide range of different aircraft under varying conditions.

The Alpha was designed by Precision Flight Controls, very respected outfit.

Best wishes.

 

It feels way more than five lbs.  It's really stiff.   As you know, it varies with airspeed. Without feedback, you aren't going to be able to pull the yoke back and have it slide back due to the weight of the elevators, have mushy controls at low airspeed, or feel the ailerons twist it in the wind.  I learned how to fly in a 150 and 172 many moons ago and I've flown several different types of GA aircraft.  Controls this stiff in pitch is are not usable.  I should not have to pull it hard with both hands just to pull the yoke all the way back.

[DaveCT2003 1,820]

2 minutes ago, TallTanBarbie said:

It feels way more than five lbs.  It's really stiff.   As you know, it varies with airspeed. Without feedback, you aren't going to be able to pull the yoke back and have it slide back due to the weight of the elevators, have mushy controls at low airspeed, or feel the ailerons twist it in the wind.  I learned how to fly in a 150 and 172 many moons ago and I've flown several different types of GA aircraft.  Controls this stiff in pitch is are not usable.  I should not have to pull it hard with both hands just to pull the yoke all the way back.

If it's more than 5 lbs pull, I would contact Honeycomb Support, or return it to the store you purchased it from.

 

 

 

[TallTanBarbie 19]

1 minute ago, DaveCT2003 said:

If it's more than 5 lbs pull, I would contact Honeycomb Support, or return it to the store you purchased it from.

 

 

 

Thanks.  I'm an Aerosoft customer but I ordered it last weekend from Newegg.

[MarkDH 234]

16 hours ago, MarkDH said:

That will increase your elevator dead zone

(Slop zone, not dead zone 😉 )

[James Callan 66]

"Unusable" simply means you don't like it.  I've got 500 hrs GA IRL, and I love the pitch setting of the Alpha out of the box.  I swear I can feel the pressure coming off with trim applied, as IRL.  I appreciate that is merely my sense impression, but I find it a good simulation with most AC.

[MartinRex007 390]

6 hours ago, James Callan said:

I swear I can feel the pressure coming off with trim applied, as IRL.

Yes, without always using trim to take the pressure of the pitch axis it would seem that something is wrong with the Alpha yoke, but even in small GA like a C172 with cable connected flight controls there is considerable back pressure on the yoke. My instructor spent most his time early on telling me trim, trim, us your trim...with trim in a climb or after takeoff you should feel no back pressure at all if correctly trimmed out, same in cruise and decent. 

If the OP received an Alpha yoke that just isn't working right I hope he gets it fixed because it really is a nice little yoke.

Edited March 15, 2021 by MartinRex007

[Ray Proudfoot 8,924]

On 3/14/2021 at 11:15 AM, SergeyPe said:

Just replace the rubber "ropes" used in Alpha for the weaker ones. There is a huge variety of them available online but also in the household/ DIY shops.

Opening the case may invalidate the warranty.