Why is this?

[Geremy Britton]

i agree, i look at other websites all the time of home built cockpits and see these fantastic cockpits and then when you look at the yoke and throttle they have non realistic plastic ch ones - realy demotes the standard of your sim i think!

thats why i am building my yoke now which is on the top ten things of getting done properly. i already have a 737 throttle made that looks real.

geremy

[737NUT]

I think that would be a good market, decent yoke mounted to a painted PVC column that is weighted for a realistic feel.

My very first sim went from a CHPro yoke, then gutted CH yoke on a PVC clm. Then the real plane. I built the yoke the same time i got the MIP. Right now i am flying with a joystick and it is NOT a joy! I'm waiting for real yoke to become available or i may go with Simparts yoke.

This is how i personally see it,

1000.00 cdu
1000.00+ MIP and pnls
Flying it all with a 100.00 plastic yoke,

Priceless!!!!!!!!!



Just trying to be funny, don't get mad

[Michael Carter]

Well, mine was built rather backwards from what I've seen from nearly everyone else.

My overhead was the first thing I built. Then the control stand and throttle. The MIP was being built at the same time the control column/yoke was, but was finished much sooner and being used long before the MIP was ready.

There's just something about having a real Boeing yoke in front of you that really 'make's' it.

I like your explanation Andy.

[Michael Carter]

I think that would be a good market, decent yoke mounted to a painted PVC column that is weighted for a realistic feel.

My very first sim went from a CHPro yoke, then gutted CH yoke on a PVC clm. Then the real plane. I built the yoke the same time i got the MIP. Right now i am flying with a joystick and it is NOT a joy! I'm waiting for real yoke to become available or i may go with Simparts yoke.

This is how i personally see it,

1000.00 cdu
1000.00+ MIP and pnls
Flying it all with a 100.00 plastic yoke,

Priceless!!!!!!!!!

Just trying to be funny, don't get mad

You really should visit Nick's site at APHS. He has decent prices for a variety of yokes you can build from. Mine came complete with the wiring harness and switches for around $500. Add another $50 or so for column hardware and you have a decent yoke for a single-seater.

Of course, if you are building a dual-seater the complexity goes up enourmously and so does the cost.

[David Rogers]

Good original question BSW - I think there are numerous reasons for yoke choices among pit builders.

One is the cost of "off the shelf" realistic airliner yokes. At around £1,500 for a fully assembled airliner yoke (on a control column, not a desk mounted box), the yoke is arguably THE most expensive component. Same with the throttle. Around £1600 for a fully assembled plug and play realistic 737 throttle.

So consider the costs of each 'chunk' of the type of cockpit that I've gone for:-

PM £565
Engrav Captain MIP £275
Engrav Centre MIP £235
CP Flight MCP £485
CP Flight EFIS £200
Engrav CDU £745
Triple Head2go £135
3 x 19" TFT £450
2 x 17" TFT £140
Airliner 737 Yoke £1,500
737 Throttle £1,600

........see what I mean. So the other option (for some) is building your own. But we don't all have engineering or electronics skills.

The other point is the fact that no matter what Yoke or throttle we use, we're still interfacing with the same $50 core simulator. So the control wheel is only part of the overal flight dynamics experience.

The Saitek Yoke is excellent. If you craft a 'checklist' board and attach it to the front (to hide the tacky on yoke display), you have a pretty credible steel shafted, smooth yoke.

As has been said by others - for some, where cash or skill is the constraint, CH and Saitek are the only options for out pits.

[Tomlin]

... when you look at the yoke and throttle they have non realistic plastic ch ones - realy demotes the standard of your sim i think!

geremy

My point is that (just like others have pointed out) that sometimes you just have to use what you can afford. For me, it was 'use a yoke you have, buy another to make it look uniform' and that would compliment my full size instrument panel.

The CH yoke itself is very realistic looking, and if it werent for the cheesy mini throttle quad mounted on it, it looks great (and actually close to the L45 yoke with a clipboard attached).

[737NUT]

I still remember the first comments my friends made when they flew in my real cockpit i used to have. These where the same guys who flew my 1st sim which had a chpro yoke. There comment was, "man it sure is allot easier to fly and more realistic with this real steering wheel"! LOL Goes to show a good wheel means more than having a roof over your head.

[Tomlin]

In time....