Honeycomb Bravo yes or no?

[737_800 434]

I am looking for a throttle quadrant that I can use for airbus and boeing airplanes. However, as I heard the use cheap components that are likely to break after two years, also it's not clear if the company will exist anymore.

What is your suggestion in that sitation? are there any alternatives in that price range I can use both airframes with or should I just go with the bravo as long as they still have them on stock?

[Patco Lch 1,474]

Who has them in stock? 

[737_800 434]

5 minutes ago, Patco Lch said:

Who has them in stock? 

retail or online shops

[Bob Scott 7,743]

I would not personally buy a $300 hardware product from a manufacturer that by most accounts is circling the drain, unless you're comfortable with sourcing your own parts and doing your own repair work.

As an alternative, I rather like the Thrustmaster TCA Airbus throttle quads as an option--they're certainly not as sturdy as the Bravo, but then they cost less than half as much, use Hall Sensors, and have a good workable on-axis reverse thrust capability.  You can use the Airbus-style throttle detents, or quickly remove them with a screwdriver and two minutes of work for detent-free axis inputs on Boeings and other acft.  The TCA Airbus quads use reasonably thick plastic levers, and have a light but precise touch.  I take one with me on the road with my portable rig, and haven't had any issues with damage.  As long as you're not manhandling them or throwing them around, I think they're well-fit for purpose.

The Thrustmaster Boeing throttles, on the other hand, are on the flimsy side mechanically and (ick!) use on/off switches for reverse thrust rather than the reverse detent stops and variable reverser axis inputs you get with the Airbus version.

[okupton 310]

I’m in the same boat, but will probably get the honeycomb just because it seems to be far superior to the other options.  
 

Will probably be stuck with a $300 paperweight in two years, but what a two years it will be.

[jason74 142]

4 hours ago, Bob Scott said:

I would not personally buy a $300 hardware product from a manufacturer that by most accounts is circling the drain, unless you're comfortable with sourcing your own parts and doing your own repair work.

As an alternative, I rather like the Thrustmaster TCA Airbus throttle quads as an option--they're certainly not as sturdy as the Bravo, but then they cost less than half as much, use Hall Sensors, and have a good workable on-axis reverse thrust capability.  You can use the Airbus-style throttle detents, or quickly remove them with a screwdriver and two minutes of work for detent-free axis inputs on Boeings and other acft.  The TCA Airbus quads use reasonably thick plastic levers, and have a light but precise touch.  I take one with me on the road with my portable rig, and haven't had any issues with damage.  As long as you're not manhandling them or throwing them around, I think they're well-fit for purpose.

The Thrustmaster Boeing throttles, on the other hand, are on the flimsy side mechanically and (ick!) use on/off switches for reverse thrust rather than the reverse detent stops and variable reverser axis inputs you get with the Airbus version.

The Bravo is by far the Best Throttle Available for $300 Price Range.  I had the Thrustmaster TCA Airbus throttle quad it felt cheep and its not anywhere near as customizeble as the Bravo.

Bravo build quality is much better

[Bob Scott 7,743]

9 hours ago, jason74 said:

Bravo build quality is much better

Well...it's $300 vs $120 for the TCA quadrant.  Sadly, Honeycomb's offices are reportedly vacant/boarded up and future support looks unlikely, warranty or otherwise, and from reading the mail over the last few years, a significant number of folks in the community have indeed found themselves needing that support for bad switches, bad pots and other issues that don't exactly scream "much better build quality".  So maybe it really isn't the "Best Throttle Available" when taking into consideration the real possibility of ending up with a broken and unrepairable unit.  I have a good friend here locally with the Bravo throttle unit, and he's had absolute fits with the driver software ever since the day he got it.  As long as there was decent support behind the product, I think the Bravo was a reasonable risk.  But with the history of reliability issues and without support going forward...well, that's another story.  Caveat Emptor--let the buyer beware.

So the lighter and more inexpensive Thrustmaster is a lower-cost but less mechanically robust alternative to taking that risk.

Another alternative is the PFC throttle quadrant, which is even sturdier and better built than the Honeycomb, and customizable via both software and hardware with swappable lever configurations.  But then they start at over $800.

 

[737_800 434]

I am not sure. The Bravo has also an autopilot what is really cool, but nothing helps if it's broken. The Airbus throttle is expensive also if you buy the extensions for Speedbrake and flaps.

What expantion can I use for boeing aircraft when buying the airbus quadrant?

[Bob Scott 7,743]

31 minutes ago, 737_800 said:

I am not sure. The Bravo has also an autopilot what is really cool, but nothing helps if it's broken. The Airbus throttle is expensive also if you buy the extensions for Speedbrake and flaps.

What expantion can I use for boeing aircraft when buying the airbus quadrant?

Not sure I understand your question about expansions.  The TCA Airbus throttle has a small plate on the bottom that you remove (two screws) and turn around to disable the Airbus detents, making the lever travel continuous without detents, except for the reverse idle stop, which allows you have a true variable reverse axis with paddles on the levers that you pull up to allow you to go past the reverse idle stop into the reverse range.  That's a much better solution than the all-on or off reverser switches on the Bravo and the TCA Boeing quadrants.  You can also lock the reverse idle stop paddles up by pulling them up and turning a small knob on the side of each lever, which gives full range of travel on the throttle axes without any detents at all.

The speedbrake/flap "sidecar" extensions work with other acft, although the flap control has 5 detented positions.  I wrote a Lua script that runs in FSUIPC to make the flap lever work something like my PFC unit does with Boeings and other acft with more than 5 flap lever positions...when I move the lever from the center position up one detent and back to center, it raises the flaps one increment, when I move the lever down one position and back to center it lowers the flaps one position.  If I move the lever to full up or full down positions, I get flaps full up or full down.  Using an axis variable to control flaps is hit or miss proposition, and flat does not work on a number of add-ons.  And that said, I don't know of any consumer-grade quadrant that does 7 or 8 detent flap control like you'd need to replicate a Boeing flap handle.

[mwilk 1,107]

Supposedly Honeycomb is under new management. For what it's worth, I own both the Alpha and the Bravo and have had them since December of 2021. Up until now I haven't had any issues with them.

https://flyhoneycomb.com/

[fppilot 4,391]

20 hours ago, Bob Scott said:

I would not personally buy a $300 hardware product from a manufacturer that by most accounts is circling the drain, unless you're comfortable with sourcing your own parts and doing your own repair work.

 

Hmmm.  I been through this before.  I found and ordered a backup.  My three year old HCs are doing just fine and should last several more years.  Then the Bravo that just arrived, has been tested, and is back in the carton for storage.  I'm 75.  I'm good!....  🤣

If you have trouble finding stock check pilot supply outlets.  Like Sporty's, Aircraft Spruce, and MyPilotStore, all .com.

[fppilot 4,391]

19 minutes ago, mwilk said:

Supposedly Honeycomb is under new management. For what it's worth, I own both the Alpha and the Bravo and have had them since December of 2021. Up until now I haven't had any issues with them.

 

https://flyhoneycomb.com/blogs/news/management-change-update

 

[Patco Lch 1,474]

Those links are extremely interesting. Unless I missed something they seem to actually have the products in stock?

[nas123 160]

I have had mine for 2 years. When everything was working, I was satisfied.

BUT, the quality of the wirings to the buttons are poor.

2 of the buttons on the throttle levers (TOGA and left reverser) do not work anymore.

 

See also video of simular issues: 

 

[flhx_ridr 28]

Here's the deal. I've had the Bravo and Alpha since they were released. Admittedly, I had some issues with both products and returned them to Honeycomb. They replaced each of them immediately with no issues. The set I have now have worked flawlessly (I hope I didn't jinx myself). Having said that, with the current state of the company today, I would settle for less expensive controllers to get me by and take a wait and see approach to Honeycomb before dolling out $300 for the Bravo.