Austin Meyer gives his thoughts and a quick demo on the new Honeycomb yoke. xforcepc.com/english/flight-s... If you live in the USA and need a good PC for X-Plane, visit www.xforcepc.com. Also, check out austinmeyer.com
*X-Plane & Austin Meyer, both just RULES !* Austin is an REAL 'people' person ! *Not one of those, money grabbing "profit only" crews, Like they have at MSFS !*
It's not, and no software "deserves" anything. X-Plane has its faults just like any other simulator. What it does badly is weather and seasons, both of which done much better by P3D, and until X-Plane opens itself up for developers like A2A Simulations, the best and most realistic planes will continue to be on FSX/P3D.
@@ImpendingJoker hmmm, wonder why they haven't figured out this weather thing? and seasons? I also didn't know about their black-balling of A2A Simulations...had no idea. Thanks for the post, I learned a lot tonight !!! Perhaps I will consider P3D, do they have better clouds? Also, what is the best plane to buy for P3D? and does P3D do ortho4XP?
Hi Austin, I want to thank you. I received a scholarship when I was at high school, a meagre $1800AUD back in circa 1985. I used that to fund flying lessons. I eventually flew solo in a Cessna 152 when I turned 16 (a couple of weeks later). It took me 22 hrs. Average was apparently 15-16 hrs. In my defence however, I never took off or landed without a 15 knot crosswind and most of that it was pissing down with rain. It was the time of the Americas Cup in Perth/Fremantle and Alan Bonds Air Ship was always somewhere I was flying around. I think it took me a while to get there not so much because of the cross winds, but power stalls really got to me, until I eventually recovered from one in 400-450ft. I also had to have a booster seat. I never got a growth spurt till I was 18. When the money dried up, I was hitching flights on C152s, C172s, C182s and even V35Bs (Which still fascinate me till this day). One of my Year 11/12 subjects was Aeronautics, so I got a bit of boost towards academics and a graduation prize for being one of the youngest pilots to fly solo in my State. All things come to an end. When I opened this yoke and finally figured out I had to patch the RG12 in, wow, whilst I was flying in FSX:SE *Dont kick me* I do have X-Plane but need to get a 152 model, man it was awesome. Ive had DCS FSX:SE & X-Plane for a few weeks now, working out what hardware to get. I got screwed around with a store when I purchased a JoyStick Rudder and Throttle set, and as they neglected to let me know it would take weeks to get here, I eventually had enough and on the basis of your video I grabbed the honeycomb alpha. Like I said WOW. Now i cannot fly without rudder. Even with Automatic Yawing, it just does not give you control. Ive spent hours researching and as much as a Yoke is important, I dont believe that rudder control is any less important. I just couldnt get an MFG Crosswind in time so I ordered a Thrustmaster TPR. That ought to be here on Thursday. In the mean time I will probably be just doing circuits around Oak Harbor, Washington State, as it is a place I know. Someone needs to really pick up Perth, Western Australia and give us a VFR package by the way, so if anyone is listening please do. Just the airport is not enough. For some strange reason most tourists think that Ayers Rock and Sydney Harbor are the only places in Australia. They are not. So in my analysis, whilst I spent a bit of money because the exchange rate sucks, so it was circa $465AUD or more wihen you account for postage, it really is a steal. It flies like I remember. I use a Saitek MFD Panel for pitch control, not ideal, but I felt better than using the trim switches. Muscle memory. I still remember myh Mnemonic for starting up a 152. "BUT MP FISCHE" with FISCHE pronounced FISH. for Brakes On, Undercarriage Fixed, Trim Indicator Neutral, Mixture Rich, Master In and locked, Friction Nut Firm, Instruments from left to right, Switch Magnetos to Both, Clear Prop, Check Harness, Switch Engines on. (Hope that helps someone, it helped me fly a plane and not many kids I knew ever did. Might help you with realism having a checklist (anyone whos reading this.). Yoke quality is outstanding, reaction could have had a little more spring when turning between 45-90 but, forward and aft movements (elevator) was perfect, almost like the real thing. Its a pity Saitek doesnt have the TPM available, because the quadrant I grabbed with this yoke just doesnt do it for me in a 152. Sure two of them might be nice with jets, but seriously, I dont know why they stopped putting them out because, its what you start on, and everybody goes through it presumably. Whilst in your latter video on this, the comparison, one of the yokes, may have had more travel for pitch/elevators surface controls, really, I wouldnt be able to fly it in the tight space I have in my Transmitter room. As I am half blind now, after my last spinal fusion, with a massive amount of damage to my right eye, and I also have a dominant right hand that suffers severe nerve damage. That pretty picture my instructor was always drumming into me, is coming to life again. So thanks for bringing me back from the depths of hell. Since leaving the military, I havent had such excitement, enjoyment, and purpose. This Yoke may well be the best thing Ive bought since my discharge.
I just found this video literally the day after I bought the Alpha yoke. I am new to sims and want to learn how to fly. This is amazing to see the creator of a sim actually geek out and love what he is doing and kept his word about programing changes to the software due to the hardware (And under 24 hrs no less!!). I bought the competitor flight sim to learn, but, after seeing this, I am getting X-Plane 11 as well. I am absolutely impressed by the obvious love of aviation of him and his team. You have earned a new customer.
I reckon this guy could sell ice to eskimos. And I mean that in a good way. Very personable, humble and honest. Very enjoyable and I think that yoke is on my list, as well as that monitor. Thnx.
Austin Meyers: "If I can see anyone else raise their game, I'm like oh yeah you raise that game and I'm going to try to come to your level and exceed it." FSIM 2020/Asobo Studios: Challenge accepted.
Such a wonderful thing to see enthusiasm, interest and absolute dedication. To empower people, to ignite and kindle their interest is a goal that encapsulates life’s purpose.
I was involved in the fabrication of sims for the USAF from 1970 through the 90’s - we had a helluva lot of people doing what this guy does with a small group...two bits his sim is as good as ours - of course we would get several million for the software...
After owning my Honeycomb Yoke that has been in storage for over 3 years after a major retirement move back to Idaho it is finally out of the box and being setup for my Xplane11 flight simulator that I've flown off and on since 2018, the yoke just seems awesome. Your overview and entertaining comments are Great! How fun it must be for you guys to get to work together on all this flight sim stuff. Austin just cracks me up with all of his input. What a really smart guy he is. Thanks for the video, and my best to you both!!
I love watching someone geek out over something that they truly enjoy. This guy is awesome. Just picked up X plane 11, haven’t flown a sim since X plane 8. But holy crap 11 is absolutely amazing. Gotta get this yoke now!
Great video as usual ! Great content, seeing Austin introducing a trim A and B in a night to recognize the great job Honeycomb done on its yoke, is unbelievable! I’ll be a forever fan of your product!
after a while I didn’t even care about the yoke, I was just watching for entertainment. the enthusiasm was amazing, love these reviews! so glad I discovered xplane
When you see a big simulator creator like Austin support the honeycomb this much, makes it look even more appealing. Especially after he talks about how the pitch trim will work. That’s awesome. Now I am no XPlane user but this is just getting me more excited. I managed to preorder one and tried it at the expo and just am in wow. So excited to get this thing this month
I was one of the lucky ones that got to demo this yoke at EAA Sun n' Fun this year. It really did feel as good as he is saying. I am not in the market for a yoke at this time, but I am for sure getting the Bravo Throttle Quadrant when it releases, and who knows, maybe by that time I'll need a new yoke as well. We'll see.
Greets from NZCH Austin! That was some of the best 30 minutes of my life I have invested, - thoroughly enjoyed it, almost as much as my Honeycomb Yoke! Stay well.
Hey, I have the honeycomb yoke and it is awesome, but the Avionics Bus 2 switch doesn't work because there is no choice in the config for the Avionics Bus 2, any chance that this will be fixed?
I....am.....so......EXCITED!!! Wow!! Thank you gents so much for doing this review. Not only did you hit on all the most important details and explain them clearly, but the explanations came from both of YOU. I really don’t care to hear the opinion about a yoke from someone who is not an authority, but I cannot ask for a better authority than someone who is both a pilot AND the creator of this awesome flight sim program! I bought X Plane 11 probably 8+ years ago. Now I just need to figure out how to update it (and not just the Beta version you referred to), get that yoke, a throttle and some rudder pedals and I get working on getting my PPC. It’s not essential, but it would be marvelous if this yoke were to be FAA certified to qualify for logging official hours on a Flight Sim.
*X-Plane & Austin Meyer, both just RULES !* Austin is an REAL 'people' person ! *Not one of those, money grabbing "profit only" crews, Like they have at MSFS !*
....(Michael, Pass this on...),...I can Definitely Relate to your “Boyhood Enthusiasm” Austin,...& I’m 64 yrs old !!! Because I Just retired, I’ll seriously Think about Buying this Yoke !! 👍👍👏👏Thankyou Very Much for Xplane 11 & ALL....its Splendor !!!👍👍✈️🤗🇺🇸☕️Paul from Ct.🇺🇸
What it does badly is weather and seasons, both of which done much better by P3D, and until X-Plane opens itself up for developers like A2A Simulations, the best and most realistic planes will continue to be on FSX/P3D.
While Austin (created and) used X-Plane to be prepared for his second instrument currency check, I used it for my instrument training during days when I was not flying. While I did not use the honeycomb yoke, but the logitech one (lol), I was more after practicing IFR flying. X-Plane helped me immensely in this regard, such as refining instrument scan, multitasking, shooting instrument procedures, staying ahead of the airplane, etc. Given a choice now, I would have bought the honeycomb yoke. But considering I already own another yoke, I probably wouldn't change it because I don't use the simulator to learn to physically control the plane, but to practice the IFR flying and procedures. I guess the choice of hardware depends on what you want out of the simulator. But considering the price difference is not much, honeycomb yoke is the winner.
You are such a nerd, Austin. But guess what? I really love it, man. It is amazing the enthusiasm (and information) that you put in your videos--with special sounds of the engine and all. Thanks for sharing and please provide any information on rudder pedals once out, please. Take care, guys. :-)
Wow, certainly a lot better than my X-52 pro. This yoke would probably be really nice for flying airliners too, just need a decent throttle quadrant and switch panel for airliner use. I hope these guys come out with a throttle and some rudder pedals too.
I got my pre order in, mostly to get it at $219. I can't wait to get it. And I thought the Saitek was pretty good but soon I'll be able to experience the difference.
hey i put my pre-order in, but i can't remember where i did it??? crap. i know it wasn't on the honeycombs own website. could you let me know where i might have preordered it... i have searched my email, can't find the damn thing.
wow thanks for the video i am thinking about upgrade my basic joystic and thanks to your review i will go for this one i hope you can ship it to Czech Republic
Hmm, no mention of runaway elevator trim on 737 MAX MCAS... Austin: Hey, Mike, how do like my new Tesla? Mike: Wow, that's really cool! Austin: So, if you work really hard this year, and put in lots of hours, and make awesome videos, I'll be able to buy another one next year!
Pitch trim runaway in the Max is still controllable if proper procedures are followed by competent pilots. Both crashes were accompanied by incompetent pilots that kept turning the electrim trim back on. I personally have flown the sim with the failure as have 1000's of pilots and all survived when procedures were followed. Now Boeing gets to design their systems for morons.
So here I am with a CH Yoke that I've had for about 10+ years and I was looking at this brand new Honeycomb. For about twice the price of a CH Yoke, in a Honeycomb there's no throttle, no prop pitch, no mixture control, no flaps, no landing gear control, but there's a bunch of switches on the panel that I've never really used in simming and are easily accessed in the panel on the screen. There is an ignition switch that's located on the wrong side of the panel and the "start" position isn't even spring loaded. The yoke does rotate 90 degrees in each direction, but the only times I've ever turned a yoke that far in a real plane was during a preflight control check or taxiing in a stiff crosswind. The back pressure in the elevator axis is ridiculous and the up and down strokes are way too short compared to any real airplane that I've ever seen. The red lights in the panel? What's that about??? In any event, this thing is as nicely built as any piece of simulation hardware that I have no use for.
Austin: imma raise the bar new flight simulator by Microsoft: well good luck. in all seriousness, thanks austing for X-plane, been using it since XP-9 and i love it. from kid, to irl pilot, this program was with me all along :)
I am hoping Austin reads these. Not sure of a better place to offer suggestions but I'd thought I'd give it a try. In the spirit of flight sims being an educational tool I wanted to suggest incorporating dynamic airspace and communication. By leveraging the current airport information and location of your aircraft in three dimensional space and using the current ATC dialog box functionality it seems you could add the communication with just the tower and ground. For example if I enter a class D, C, or B airspace without permission I would get a warning box. (with the option to deactivate the feature). You would therefore need to dial in the tower frequency and via a text box select permission to land or transit through the airspace. Depending on your relative location from the airport, the tower can reply with instructions such as "Enter left traffic pattern for runway 07" or "Cleared for a straight in approach for runway 25" or "Cross over the midfield and enter a left traffic pattern for runway 03". This would be a great way to teach awareness of airspace when planning flights and following proper procedures. Being a pilot myself the biggest wake up call going from the sim to the real world was communication and airspace rules and regulations. Having the realism of transitioning from controlled to uncontrolled airspace and back again would further bridge the gap between the sim and real world aviation. Love X-plane and everything you have done with it over the years. Thanks in advance for listening and your consideration.
This is like an alternative univers, one where the 737-MAX hasn't had two crashes because of trim runaway. Apart from that, great review, great enthusiasm, I want one! but bet I can't afford one.
Nice review. Had a chance to demo it and the Bravo at FSExpo this year. Honeycomb has a great product and looking forward to receiving them. Thanks for the update to beta as well. Will definitely go grab it once I receive my Alpha. Any suggestion on pedals? I can't remember what X-Plane or Honeycomb had with their setups at FSExpo.
Honeycomb Yoke Company: "Hey, let's pay that Austin guy to endorse our product on RU-vid!" Austin Meyer (after check clears bank): "Everyone, this is hands down THE BEST FLIGHT CONTROL YOKE EVER MADE BY HUMANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I mean, goddamn, forget an objective review because it's already perfect before he even tries it.
Great video, very informative. I thought you were a bit harsh on the Logitech (Saitek) yoke given it's age. However the Honeycomb yoke looks awesome, have already pre-ordered, just awaiting touchdown in the UK.
Great Video, I'm just getting back into flight sims, haven't flown them since roughly the late 90's. I've also just started at flight school and have bought this yoke and the latest Xplane with hopes of re-flying and practicing my actual lessons. I'm currently flying a C172S Glass and was happy to find the same plane in the program. Sticking with the 172S, to maximize realism, would you recommend flying this yoke with the default response curves or a modified curve? I don't have enough experience in the plane or with sims to accurately judge the yoke's performance at the moment.
Ok as others have stated, if Austin is that impressed with this yoke, It’s almost a must have item. Have the throttle on Pre Order since last February as i already had the Saitek Yoke, and didn’t think there was any point in replacing it. However It’s fair to say that I will be getting a new Yoke in the next few months
Using default settings, on a cessna 172 with honeycomb yoke, it seems impossible to elevator trim (A&B) to have level flight. I wish you could micro trim with the dual button setup.
23:30 to 23:50: What Austin said was my thoughts exactly. I bought my Honeycomb yoke last week and tried it with XPLANE11.5 over the weekend. I have 36 hours of flight experience in both Cessna 152 and 172 from my previous flying school in the US but plan to restart here in the UK but flying the Piper PA-28 Warrior II. I bought that module but flew it wearing an Oculus Rift S and I swear, it was so incredibly realistic. One thing I'll need to do is change the top left hat switch since i don't need to "look around" given that I'm in VR.
is the beta (alpha) i downloaded from youtube that Austin release a few weeks back, does that still pertain or has the beta from x-plane itself during updates put that in place? or is the one that was linked from here still the many splendor thing from Austin? (special release access)?
Yesterday a person from Honeycomb recently posted on their Facebook page that the reason some yokes have a deadzone, and some do not, is that some of the early production units were calibrated incorrectly at the factory, giving them a deadzone they should not have. My yoke from the original preorder has a 5mm deadzone in elevator, and a 9° deadzone in aileron (5% of total rotation!). Also, I have found out that the yoke has a built-in "hidden" calibration routine that can be invoked to recalibrate with no deadzone at all - but those that have been told this procedure have been instructed to not make it public, as they are concerned a user could screw up their yoke even worse.
I purchased the Honeycomb yoke about a month ago and I like it much. It works fine for aircraft that come with X-Plane 11 but the M22 Collection from X-Aviation Mooneys don't respond to any of the switches (battery/alt/avionics, and lights). Anyway to get the Honeycomb switches to recognize X-Planes available controls such as bcn, landing, taxi, nav, and strobe?
