New Saitek product

[Efe Cem Elci]

The Pro Flight System as it exists currently (yoke, pedals, throttle) is on the Saitek site (http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm) but I admit I haven't seen anything anywhere on the gauges and availability and very few sites that list the new panel.

[AndyT]

Its an interesting peice. Its not as realistic as Desktop Aviator's panel. Nice, but too late for me.

[magicaldr]

Its an interesting piece. Its not as realistic as Desktop Aviator's panel. Nice, but too late for me.

Hi Andy, I have the Desktop Aviator panel and agree when it comes to the keyswitch. However the DA panel relies on a joystick controller, and having the switches in the right place at the start. Since a pulse is sent on each move of the switch, it doesnt know if they are set to on or off.

Not sure if Saitek will have gone the same route or will map both on and off positions for each switch. If they have then the saitek panel will be more realistic than the DA one in my view. Also you get gear lights and gear lever.

Realism goes BONK!

Sorry, but this unit may be the best thing available at the price, but it just does not look like any part of any aircraft I have ever flown. It reminds me of several switch panels I have seen in this forum, made by members, which exist just to overcome the problem of mouse / keyboard input. Nothing wrong with any of that of course, but please don't try to say this is a leap forward.

OK, you can spend some more by adding a homebrew panel, substituting the switches in that unit for real-like ones, and so on, Then you'll have a unit that looks like it belongs in a real cockpit. At several times the price - so what's the point?

Ok its not like any specific aircraft, but its aimed at the small GA flyer. Compared to many ultralight / microlight class aircraft its quite realistic.

As you say it depends on what you are building. There are a number of 'generic' builders out there as well as desktop flyers who may find this useful. It has a lot of functionality in a very cheap package. Combined with a instrument monitor for the GA pilot with TrackIR this is pretty much all the switch inputs you need.

Not sure why I like this so much, Go Flight is not that 'realistic' but a lot of us use it, same with Desktop Aviator stuff. Its not going to be 'real' when compared to a replica cockpit, but it sure is real compared to a keyboard

[Paul G]

I'm not sure if my original point has become lost a bit. I wasn't really anticipating tons of orders for this product from people here. What I was remarking on was the shear value for the desktop aviator, especially as this unit allegedly has backlighting which is a first for a unit of this price. Also marks entry into a new level of fidelity for the desktop buff.

The other point is that when I started sim building, I only ever anticipated building a slightly more immersive environment than a desktop simmer would have. With a product like this, such an enthusiast could be up and running with reasonable level of functionality for about $1,000 which is not bad at all.

Adding some hardware to this unit would not cost much. $1-1.50 for toggles, and a keylock for the magnetos

[Efe Cem Elci]

Two new products have been added to Saitek's site, the instrument panel as talked about above and a headset.
http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/proflight.htm

[AndyT]

The headset looks really nice. Too bad its not USB.

[Holclo]

The new switch panel is only for FSX.
Bill

[Michael Carter]

That's the talk anyway. It uses sim-connect which is only in FSX. I don't know if there is a work around for FS9 or not.

I'm sure someone will come up with one, or just use their own input card.