Honeycomb Bravo or TCA Airbus Throttle

[colz99 0]

Hey all.

At the moment I am really debating on which throttle I should get next. As a backstory: I've been simming since like 2010 and since then I've been using the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke with the throttle and rudder pedals. Last year I switched my yoke to the Honeycomb Alpha (and was like wow, I didnt know a yoke could be that much better!) Well, all the time the Saitek Throttle was getting on my nerves with that stupid axis flutter/stutter, I then cleaned it and it worked flawlessly, not a single stutter at all. Then I got the Alpha, sold the Saitek Yoke/Throttle and got a standalone Saitek/Logitech Throttle. And this stupid thing just has this axis stutter since new. I even took it apart to clean it on the day I received it because it was so bad and it didn't do a single thing. (On my old Saitek throttle cleaning the Potentiometers worked absolute wonders!!). Well ok, rant over. Anyways, since I got into the Honeycomb Alpha I kinda also knew about the Honeycomb Bravo. And as I've been honestly very impressed with the Alpha I was actually certain I'd get the Bravo as well (If its ever gonna be available again). But in the meantime I have informed myself and am kinda divided. Like I've said, because of the Alpha my expectations were/are high and I think the Bravo really is great. But I've also heard stuff that would be negative for me. Firstly, it seemingly still has potentiometers, which makes me really get flashbacks of the Saitek Throttle Axis jumping around and being absolute ****. On the other hand I trust Honeycomb to deliver, so I'd guess the potentiometers would be of higher quality and stuff like this shouldn't be the problem? Secondly, I was under the impression that the commercial levers with their "functioning reverse thrust levers" were axis. They're not. They're buttons which means it's the same as in the Logitech Throttle. And assignin the "reverse" of the Logitech Throttle to the "decrease Throttle" command in P3D does, for whatever reason not work as well as the F2 keyboard button does. At least not with every addon aircraft (PMDG 737/747/777, Aerosoft CRJ&Airbus, Fslabs Airbus). So this is quite the bummer for me. I'd love to actually have functioning reverse levers as it just gives so much more immersion than tapping the F2 key on your keyboard. Ok, so there's that. I also got to know about the Thrustmaster Airbus stuff. I'm still highly interested in the sidestick, but the throttle also came to my mind. It has hall-sensors, so no potentiometers (big plus) and actually has a functioning reverse axis. (Although from my understanding, the whole range of the thrust levers is one axis, where the reverse would be a fraction of that axis' range, which would in turn result in quite much configuring for several addon airplanes to have it working like it should?). But besides that, the throttle also has the detents for CLB/FLX and TOGA, which are removable but require to be screwed out. That's kind of a turnoff for me, as it'd mean I'd need to remove the detents every time I fly something else than an Airbus. So now I don't really know which one I should get? Thing is, the Bravo would be cool because its so versatile (what would I do if I had the Airbus Throttle and wanted to fly a 4 engined aircraft?) On the other hand the Airbus one would be cool because it has actually functioning reversers and better sensors, rather than potentiometers. But I'd imagine it's so annoying to set up everytime I fly a different aircraft. Like I really just wanna have a nice throttle without any fluctuating/stuttering axis. A nicely working reverser function would be cool as well. Also having an axis for every single engine would be appreciated as well. I don't really know about the Bravo's many buttons. I imagine I don't really require the Autopilot panel of the Bravo (as it probably wouldn't work with the addon aircrafts anyways) on the other hand the gear lever is super nice and the flap button/lever in the cessna style as well. And it'd really complete my setup. Before I forget it, I am using Prepar3Dv4 as of now and have the PMDG 737/747/777 and also the Airbus by FSLabs and the Aerosoft A330 and CRJ as well (whereas I'd really like to enjoy the latter with a good thrust quadrant as it doesn't have autothrust). I really hope y'all stuck this far with me and actually get what I wanna say. I just don't know what I should get, as the pro's and con's of both seemingly outweigh each other. Maybe there's an alternative to them I don't know about?

I'm still tending to go for the Honeycomb Bravo as I think it's better suited for me.

 

Thank you all.

[109Sqn 1,557]

 MSFS user here, so take that into account.

I suspect the majority who have one or other quadrant will likely recommend that one, unsurprisingly. I have the Thrustmaster and am very happy with it overall. It's certainly way more compact for a start! You do have the option of adding a second quadrant for 4 engine operation if you wish - I suppose it depends whether you really need the realism of a separate control for each engine (personally, I'm not that bothered). You're obviously missing GA levers on the Airbus Quad. Again, that's not bothered me so far. I've never disabled the detents because, guess what? I'm not...😁 

In short, for all-round realism, I suppose the Bravo is the better option, but the Thrustmaster does what it does better IMO. It's also sturdily-built and the case even looks metallic even though it's plastic. I have the Officer pack, so I use it in conjunction with the sidestick, which works well for me.

I have had the Bravo on order since 1982 (or so it seems!😆 ) and frankly I'm getting fed up waiting and having my order from Amazon cancelled twice (and the first time was well before Honeycomb announced they were suspending production due to the shortage of components).

 

I also use the Fulcrum Yoke One, and Chris from Fulcrum has plans for a throttle quadrant, most likely in a GA configuration. Since I already have a commercial setup in the form of the Airbus Quadrant, I'll be seriously considering the Fulcrum, depending on whether it fits my budget, because the build quality of the Fulcrum is head and shoulders above that of either the Honeycomb or Thrustmaster controls. It's some way off production though, as Chris is rightly concentrating on fulfilling yoke orders first.

[colz99 0]

Thank you for your opinion 🙂 I fly mostly airliners but within airliners I really switch from Boeing to Airbus to CRJ pretty often. So I guess the detent thing could get annoying.

[antney79 18]

I have both.  Honeycomb is by far better with more options if you include throttle and yoke.  The TCA is pure convenient since I put my flight sim controllers away after each flight.  Both are good for their use, you won’t go wrong with either one.  Just more of a preference and your taste.   

[colz99 0]

Thank you Anthony. Guess imma have to read more reviews to be able to make up my mind 😛