DaveCT2003

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

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.

#2.

Hmmm.

One thing that is very disaapoining for those of us who fly online in Europe (soon the US) is that the Logitech (Saitek) Radio Panel does not work for the 8.33 frequency change which amoung other things requires three decimals (but that is far from the only thing). I contacted Logitech and left a message for the Project Manager who handles the radio panel, but being very typical for Logitech they ignored me. If you don't fly online then it's really not an issue, but if you do or plan to it might very well be an issue. I haven't checked, but hopefully SPAD.NEXT has addressed this. Logitech support is HORRIBLE and updates are even worse, but thankfully SPAD picked up the ball and is doing the work that the company should be doing.

I'm with Frank (above), I have both v4 and v5 installed (along with all the other simulators), and v4 is still my go-to simulator. I don't believe v5 will match v4 for the aircraft I fly (MaddogX, B712, Majestic Dash 8, PMDG 737 NGXu/747ii/777 for about another year yet especially with the EA stuff. I love the troublefree nature of v4. But like everything else in flight sim, your hardware and which software you run, and your settings make all the difference.

You absoluytely can, but there are plenty of very inexpensive flight controllers available from countless sources, I recommend you pick one up. For less than $30 USD you should be able to pick up a joystick/controller that has a throttle lever and twist rudder as well as the normal X and Y Axis. I hope this helps! Best wishes!

Nice work Bryan, as always!

Hello my friends! I have enjoyed reading this thread and I can't disagree with most any of the comments here, in fact there was only one comment that I'd like to address and it really takes us to the heart of the matter. Before I go any further I want to ensure that the following is my PERSONAL opinion and it does not represent the opinion or position of any company. I don't believe that Asobo has ignored ATC development in MSFS. They are simply working on what is most important to the masses, and even though most people in this thread won't want to hear it (and I can't blame them) ATC is simply not what is most important to the masses. If you give me a chance I'll try and explain that, and explain why that is not necessarily a bad thing for existing and experienced flight simmers. Prior to the release of MSFS (aka MSFS 2020 or MFS 2020) there were approximately 250,000 active flight simmers around the world. For purposes of this thread I am defining "Active Flight Simmers" as someone who makes a flight two to three times in a 3 month period, and the number 250,000 is a number which I alone deduced using data from various sources. MSFS was released in August 2020, though sales of MSFS DVD packages pre-dated the release date so we have about one year of weighted sales data. Existing flight simmers purchased roughly 200,000 to 250,000 copies of MSFS (likely the lower range of that number) which more or less validates my number above and that leaves us with the public purchasing the range of 700,000 to 750,000 copies of MSFS. While more people buy the product every month, I estimate that 50% or more new flight simmers use the software several times and stop (give up) thus fall outside of my definition "Active Flight Simmers" and at least half of that number have been lost to our community for reasons I've been tracking but go far beyond the scope of this post. Now, if you want to know when or if ATC development is going to be important to Asobo then you first need to understand where the money comes from (aka "the Market that feeds MSFS development beyond the initial investment") and then understand how Program Managers think and what moves them to act. In this case its boils down to Program Manager's question of "where do I expend my funding for the greatest benefit to my program". If we answer this question honestly then it's easy to see that Air Traffic Control is not even close to the top of the list. Looking at this from a slightly different angle we know that most experienced flight simmers (the ones that care about realistic ATC) have already purchased MSFS, and those who are not experienced flight simmers wouldn't know the difference between realistic or non-realistic ATC. This provides us with an understanding of the landscape on which we will battle (get ATC upgraded). Now I can't read the Asobo or Microsoft PM's mind and I'm not privy to their future plans or decisions. But based on what I see, it seems clear to me the best hope is still third party development. I hope I'm proven wrong, I really do, but I wouldn't bet on it. The other thing I’d like us to consider is the age of the market base. Those who are 40 years of age and younger grew up with interactive gaming while those like me who are older grew up in the gaming world predominately (here it comes) playing with ourselves - oh man, I’m actually laughing so hard it’s difficult to breathe! My point is this… the younger to 40 gang is accustomed to online, interactive game experience so I fully expect to see them flock to online flight simulation (VATSIM, IVAO, POSCON) and if those venues are proactive about simplifying the learning curve then that will be another nail in the coffin of AI ATC development. I know that POSCON is making every effort to collapse the learning curve for their new users. Thank you so very much for giving this old flight simmer an opportunity to share my thoughts with you. I’m sorry if what I shared wasn’t want you wanted to hear and I’m not arguing against what you want. Just sharing some information and calling it like I see it, nothing more or less. Best wishes for Happy Flights my friends!

Thank you so much David!

Hey David, are there now Campaigns in DCS? I have the flight deck addon, but i've never been able to get the aircraft to launch off the cat and it may be a software issue, but can I ask what steps you do in order to get a cat launch? It's been almost a year since i booted up DCS so I don't recall the steps I was using.

Excellent post! I wish we had about 250,000 more like you sir!

I've used my Trackir on both a 55 inch and 50 inch 4K, I just velco it to the bottom of the frame of the 55/50 inch and it's works perfect with the LEDs on my headset.

Nice shots Frank! I lived in Philly for 12 years (moved 6 years ago), in fact I helped with the SunSkyJet KPHL and surrounding area scenery for FSX and P3D! I also worked at Naval Sea Systems Command (which is actually NAVSESS in Philly) at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and I thought all the carriers were moved out before I left Philly, so I was suprised to see one there! I remember when the JFK was moved, and seeing Live ATC clips of tower controllers telling airline pilots to "Call the Ball" since the approach to 26 and 27R (normaly arrival runways) went directly over the JFK when they were moving her out! Anyway, very nice shots! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you!

Actually, I left Honeycomb on December 21st when I accepted a completely different type of position with their parent company. I no longer advise Honeycomb and I rarely speak with them. I'm not being lazy when I tell you that your best bet is to email them yourself (I hate having to tell you that, I truly do). Aerosoft remains incredible in all areas, I could (and probably should) write a post about Aerosoft and just how incredible an organization it is and give you guys a look behind the curtains - you would be amazed! If you only knew how incredible that team is and all the non-product work they for the flight sim world you'd love them as much I love being a part of the organization! I'm happy to pass your feedback along to Aerosoft (who writes the software for the Honeycomb Alpha and Bravo), but they would send the answer to me and I'd have to forward it to you, etc. As such, I'd ask that you send your feedback to them at support@aerosoft.zohodesk.com. I know Marius and Ben personally, and they are terrific about answering support tickets/emails. Also, I answered your post over in the Aerosoft forums. Best wishes my friend!

OMG, LOL!

Oh, here we go... 😉

I've read the word in several litterary pieces over the years, both turn of the last century pieces and more modern pieces. I once heard the word used in a military briefing by a general, though I am Navy and can tell you that any junior officer or officer less senior than a 3 star would likely be rediculed for using the word verbally in any context. It is fairly common for US Military to ridicule fellow members anytime they use a $5 dollar word when a 25 cent word will do. I once made the mistake of doing this in a ready room (at the time I was by far the most junior person there), I'm pretty sure they would still hammer me for it even though it took place over 30 years ago. For my part, I'm good with it's use. Then again, I'm also enjoying this thread, so... LMAO! Thanks for the post!

Right on brother! Of course you already knew how I felt about this.

The Bravo Throttle Quadrant was initial forecast/dreamt about roughly 40 years ago at a flight sim meeting at a public library in San Diego somewhere between Rosecrans and Point Loma. I know, because I was there at the meeting! Honeycomb CEO Nicki Repenning breathed life into the Bravo about 3 years ago and today it's a reality for thousands of flight simmers. I know this as well, because I've worked for Aerosoft for roughly 15 years and I worked for Honecomb until December when I accepted a position with another company in the family, Snakebyte-Group. The Bravo is just so much more than a high quality, flexible and fully reconfigurable throttle quadrant. I had an old Saitek Switch Panel mounted in front of me along with a Radio Panel and Multi-Panel (Autopilot Panel) and while I used the Radio Panel the only other thing I used was the gear lever on the Switch Panel (I fly airliners, so...). With the Bravo, I didn't need anything else! And the Bravo Trim Wheel? Amazing! I can't tell you guys about our future products, except to say that I'm excited! To answer the OPs question... VR is great, but I'm a hardware guy and that's all there is to it for me.

I forgot to mention Frank by name, so everyone would know I'm bantering with a buddy! Not a good buddy, just a generic buddy.

Such a generic post! 😉

Yep. That's the long and short of it. Anyhting else is merely hyperbole.

7.62x35 LOL! Hang in there, all sims have been like this at first.