Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 128
 Great Feel. "Phantom Key presses" were easy to fix for me .... May 3, 2008
RV_Pilot (California)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
To start with, I wish I had purchased this setup much earlier. It feels so good and delivers such rock solid performance that I cannot imagine flying the civilian aircraft in FSX without it. If you want the C-172 to become as compelling as the P51 in your control, then this is the setup you'll want.
But I vacillated on this purchase for some time before buying it due to all the reviews reporting phantom key presses. I didn't want to order something I'd likely have to return or exchange. Although I love flying with my CH Fighterstick , Pro Throttle and Rudders when flying warplanes or helicopters, I always felt like I was missing out on the joy of civilian flight simulation when using a stick instead of a yoke. So I finally mustered up the courage to order the Saitek Yoke in spite of the many poor reviews while holding my breath on the "pkp" issue.
By the time I got mine, I had thoroughly familiarized myself with the scope of the phantom key press problem and the possible cures. I had hoped mine would not suffer the symptoms but those hopes were dashed very shortly after loading up my first flight with the new controls. Sure enough I had the dreaded phantom key presses switching my views. By a process of elimination - including flying other sims without any hitch, I concluded the issue lies within the FSX setup itself. I was right. Upon closer inspection I noticed two unusual controllers listed in my FSX control menu: "Mouse Yoke" and "Mouse Look". Each of those had mysteriously been assigned default button assignments which conflicted with what I had manually set up with the Saitek Yoke. Particularly, I noticed the "extend gear when throttle rapidly decreased" and "retract gear on rapid throttle increase" commands were assigned to a button in the "Mouse Yoke". I also had a large list of view commands mapped by FSX to buttons in the "Mouse Look" controller. All I had to do was clear each and every one of the "joystick assignments" in both and all was well.
I now have about 10 hours of flight without a hitch using the Saitek Yoke and even added a second throttle quadrant for even more enjoyment with multi-engine aircraft. I coupled these controllers with the book "Microsoft Flight Simulator X For Pilots Real World Training" and I began working through the lessons. The experience is unequalled in all the 20+ years of computer gaming I've done to date. The Saitek yoke made the entire experience more immersive and rewarding.
Needless to say, I strongly recommend this yoke and even the second throttle quadrant to go with it. The reviews to the contrary can be quite demoralizing, but it appears the fixes to all the woes were only all too easy in the end. If you're considering this setup and you ask me, I say go for it. You won't be sorry.
Excellent flight yoke & phantom key issue resolved!! February 13, 2008
Paul J. Dargie (Perth, Australia)
27 out of 28 found this review helpful
Okay I must admit I was initially put off by the number of reviews and posts I'd read with regards to the notorious 'phantom key' issue, that is views intermitantly changing, gears going up and down etc. with no input from the user.
Although I believe CH Products make terrific flight controllers and I use the CH pro pedals, pro throttle and F-16 fighterstick I was attracted to the Saitek Yoke's larger, separate throttle, smooth metal shaft and multi-mode capabilities.
With some trepidation I purchased the unit on the proviso that I could return it hassle free should I have a 'defective unit'. Sure enough, within ten minutes of setting it and trialing it in both FS9 and FSX my views were changing randomly from once every minute to once every few seconds! I tried deleting the keys and re-programming them in FS and turning of the USB power saving fuction in Windows hardware manager but the problem persisted. Determined to get it working (as I was immediately impressed by the look, feel and movement of the yoke & throttle) I did a little research and discovered that by merely downloading and installing the latest versions of Pete Dowson's FSUIPC dll's for FSX and FS9 the phantom key press issue was resolved. As many MS Flight Simmer's may or may not be aware, Pete's FSUIPC is installed into the modules folder in the FS directories and tweaks/improves input, clouds, weather and interfaces many 3rd party addon's with MSFS. FSUIPC can be found at www.schiratti.com/dowson.html I am currently using FSUIPC4 v.4.2.0.0 for FSX and FSUIPC v.3783 (beta) in FS2004 under XP SP2.
Where the problem has originated I cannot be sure but is a shame that an otherwise excellent product has had it's reputation and most likely sales tarnished by this unfortunate problem that the majority of users seem to have experienced. Without the frustration of the phantom keys issue this yoke is an outstanding product and a pleasure to use.
Phantom Button Presses Fixed, Great Product! May 12, 2008
R. Diaz (Seattle, WA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I bought and installed my Saitek yoke, the same thing happened; Annoying! Engine cuts, view changes/shifts, gear cycles, you name it. GRRRRR! I did the troubleshooting and RMA from Saitek, etc. etc. and received a new yoke post-haste. Installed it and the CD-ROM, no change. This time, I was ready to rip out my Marine Corps-style hair, until...I gave something a try: I uninstalled the CD-ROM software after learning that it was not needed for the yoke to work; It's only for profiling the yoke's 3-mode option for different aircraft. Once I did that, perfection! FS life's good. I went in, changed sensitivities and null zones and away we went. Now I fly everything from French CriCris to Cessna 172s to Q400s and B-24s. I love this yoke! I've since bought a rudder pedal setup and just got a second throttle quadrant, the latter of which is definitely defective, so it's going back. Saitek's help and support is second-to-none and I wholeheartedly recommend the yoke...just don't install the CD-ROM software.
As a private pilot I appreciate how this handles January 10, 2010
Marc Bourassa (Atlanta, GA USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I got my private pilot license about 6 years ago and suffer from the fairly common complaint that I simply don't have enough time (or cash) to get up as often as I need to.
When I was training for my license I purchased the CH Yoke and found that it was OK for practicing some of my maneuvers but it tended to "stick" quite a bit which made the experience somewhat awkward and translated to rather harsher performance in my real planes.
Now, half a decade or so later, I am starting to get ready for my instrument rating and I purchased this Saitek offering (and the rudder pedals) along with Flight Simulator X to both keep my habits fresh and to eventually practice procedures when in IMC. This yoke is much smoother than the CH was (can't speak to current CH offerings) and the three lever quadrant has a very realistic feel to it.
I have not suffered from the phantom button press issues that have been discussed in other reviews so I am either lucky or the issue has been resolved.
One word of warning for experienced pilots using the full yoke/rudder setup, when I first began using FSX and the Saitek peripherals I was all over the sky and was flying like a crazy person. It turns out the FSX settings default to *too* simple. They are trying to help too much. Here I am trying to use rudder, mixture and all the normal things a pilot uses and it turned out that the various "auto" settings (auto-rudder, auto mixture) were somehow conflicting. Once I set the FSX parms to "hardest" everything fell into place and the simulator began to behave normally.
Of course the flying experience is not exactly the same as really being out there, but if you consider this to be a part of a wonderfully rich version of "armchair flying" where you can keep yourself from getting rusty on your checklists, and flying procedures. I promise, in this context, that you will be happy with this purchase.
No problems May 1, 2008
Jack Vogel (Portland, OR USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was worried about some of the problems reported,
but it was said they were resolved, and this yoke
seemed sturdier than CH, so I risked it.
I've had ZERO problems, took the unit out of the
box, hooked it up, and its been amazing.
If you like flight sims, you owe it to yourself
to have a yoke and pedals, it adds SO much to
the realism.
I have both FS2004 and FSX, I flew single engine
GA for a while, and now am learning to fly jets
in a VA. Needed 2004 for the VA. But the Saitek
components have worked flawlessly in both sims.
Yes there is better equipment out there, but it
gets really expensive above these, and for simple
hobby use there's no need for more than this.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 128
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