There has been increased innovation and upgrades in modern gaming devices such as the best flight simulator yoke, mainly aiming to achieve more realism in virtual piloting.
- However, the flight simulator yokes vary depending on materials, price, and brand.
- Also, the devices run on realism capacity, customs mapping ability of the buttons, and compatibility with different flight games.
Therefore, it is no surprise that we as buyers get confused and overwhelmed when choosing the flight simulator yoke to purchase. Read Also: Controller for Rocket League
Reviews: 7 Best Flight Simulator Yoke 2024
1. Saitek Pro Flight Yoke – 3-Lever Throttle (PZ44)
A unique feature of the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke is that the candle can travel 90 degrees in every direction.
- This will affect the aileron travel since it will offer more precise and sensitive control over your ladle axis.
The three-position switch in the Yoke will enable you to assign a 2nd and 3rd function to every button.
- Further, you may engage the reverse thrust by pulling the throttle lever beyond its stop notch, which causes some button press.
- Apart from the yoke harsh centering problem in the Saitek device, they are real top products, even superior to CH ones.
The Saitek Yoke is heavy and would not simply sit on a table devoid of clamping. This is mainly because it has a metal cast aluminum compared to other yokes that have plastic casings.
The Saitek Yoke has an aileron action where you will hear a big bump when you move through the center. However, there is a clear and quiet notch at its center, just like when you move in the pitch axis.
Ease of installation – Notably, the Saitek yoke is favorable to make people due to the sturdy steel shaft and high-quality bearings.
- This setup will offer you a highly responsive control of the airplane.
- Quadrant controls and the Yoke will excellently plug into the PC through the USB.
However, you might need to buy a USB hub to connect to other gadgets. Read Also: Power Supply for Raspberry Pi 3.
2. CH Flight Sim Yoke USB (200-615)
Well, what is the difference between the CH fighter stick and the CH Flight Sim Yoke?
First, the Flight Sim Yoke is fabricated for general aviation for games such as X plane and FS X or professional flight simulators like the X plane Pro.
The CH Flight Sim Yoke is popular among the civil aviation pilots that find it expensive to fly an actual flight, and hence they opt for a virtual cockpit at home to hone their skills cheaply.
You’ll need to set up an edge of a desk to clamp the Sim Yoke. Interestingly, it can push in and pull out and turn for effective flight control.
However, the CH Sim Yoke lacks a direct rudder control or rudder control axis, and thus you’ll require pedals to achieve this, but you can accomplish this by purchasing the CH Eclipse Sim Yoke or flying small GA aircraft that you can manage with the rudder control.
Further, for a person with a physical disability on our legs, you can try the CH Eclipse Sim Yoke (described above) as it has peddles that you can utilize as a simulated rudder.
- The CH Sim Yoke has a more realistic simulation of the real aircraft controls and has additional instrument panels.
- The sim yoke has two bi-directional flip and rocker switches, four traditional push buttons, and one 8-way POV hat switch.
Also, you’ll experience an easy USB installation, without drivers, for your Macintosh and Pc. Further, the device comes with 144 programmable functions.
The Yoke is made of heavy-duty plastic, but you could need to modify the desk to clamp the device for ease of use. Read Also: Recliners for Short People.
3. CH Products Eclipse Yoke
The CH Eclipse yoke is similar to the CH yoke, the cheaper version of the former, but they have a similar internal system.
However, the Eclipse yoke has additional switches, knobs, and buttons. New dual hat switches will enable you to zoom and pan around the cockpit.
Further, you can now control more functions on the Yoke without reaching for your keyword.
The Eclipse was designed to solve one key challenge in the old Yoke: sticking, which the new CH has now incorporated the favorable free-floating shaft design.
The main aim of the Eclipse yoke is to fly the plane in pitch and roll, and thus it is designed around two analog axes aimed at controlling the elevators and the ailerons.
The Yoke features 240 programmable functions that will give you excellent control of your flight simulation. With the 7′ USB cord, you’ll achieve an excellent plug-and-play experience.
Thumb Rudder Paddles – Also, similar to the CH Flight Sim Yoke, it has three analog axes as levers at the top of the yoke casing utilized for mixture controls and throttle prop.
The unique feature of the Eclipse Yoke is that it has an extra 6th analog axis manipulated by the unique peddle setup. Read Also: Ergonomic Sofa.
The peddle setup is a self-centering axis aimed for use as a rudder control. You can use the thumb rudder paddles for rudder control (for flight games) or like gear shifters (for racing games).
Free-floating shaft – Further, if you’ve used an earlier version of the CH Yoke, you’ll quickly observe that the Eclipse Yoke’s shaft is free-floating during pitch and roll.
Therefore, it implies that it lacks a central notch that could cause mechanical interference for fine control at the central position, and thus you’ll easily make the accurate turn.
- Despite that the aileron axis centers flawlessly at zero, the elevator axis will not do the same.
- This is a perfect design characteristic that will allow you to establish little adjustments in pitch through puling or pushing the Yoke and remain there.
The most significant addition to the CH Eclipse Yoke compared to the previous CH yoke is that the Eclipse has finger paddles.
However, I dedicated 37 hours to testing all the flight simulator yokes we review in this article. I went through the pain of testing and comparing so that you don’t have to!
Conclusion
Best Flight Simulator Yoke will increase the realism factor in your gaming.
- Therefore, with the above information on various flight simulator yokes, you’ll readily make the buying decisions.
We pride on a team that is both gaming experts and enthusiasts. Therefore, we offer accurate and up-to-date information on the best gaming devices. Happy Shopping!