Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System

I'm really happy with this. The action is smooth, the mounting is solid and doesn't take long to install or remove. The clock is really handy too. It has plenty of buttons, any more and you might have trouble remembering what you have assigned them to. The software is ok, however with using Xplane 9 and FSX, I haven't needed to use it.

On the downside, it is quite large, and the yoke itself is a touch over sized. Especially compared to a yoke in a real Cessna 172.

This would have to be the best purchase for my flight simming.
It made flying so much easier, and everything that much better, Honestly I can say this is a fantastic product.
When I was using a joystick with throttle, landing was a task of luck, now I can stick whatever aircraft on to a suitable length airstrip with accuracy, and smoothness.

Next purchase will be the pedals, and maybe another throttle quadrant.

As I have only had this piece of equipment a short time, I have not yet had time to evaluate it fully. First impressions are that it does what it says on the box!

It would have been helpful to have got a set of operating instructions with this system, as I don't think that the information on the back of the box provides enough information. For example, I have not yet worked out what the three modes are for and how to make the best use of them. It did take me a couple of hours to program the system, to the way I wanted it and I have found that that my flight simulator – Flight Sim X seems to have forgotten some of the settings that I have programmed. This of course may well be finger trouble!

Another minor irritation that I have found with this system, is that the control yoke tends to be a little graunchy. This is caused by the steel yoke rod, rubbing on the control yoke plastic casing.
Though it would be nice to have some kind of control restriction on the control yoke, to simulate aerodynamic loads and trim settings, the current spring loading is okay for now. It is wondered however, if the yoke springs will lose their tension, the more the yoke is utilised.

Overall I have enjoyed using my Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System; up to now and have found it a lot more easy and realistic to use than my Saitek Cyborg Evo joystick, which is not very good when flying and practicing aircraft manoeuvers in aircraft fitted with control yoke systems, e.g. The Piper Tomahawk, which I am learning to fly for real!

I broke both my ankles in 2008 and have been mostly bed ridden since then. I got into flight simulator to take my mind off things and I purchased a complete Saitek simmers kit and It included the Saitek Yoke. It makes flying flight sim 2004 and X an absolute dream i and I am so pleased to use it. the multitude of programmable switch options are so easy to configure. I like flying the big jets and the easy option of reverse thrust makes landings so realistic watching the engine reverses opening and closing with the throttle is so lifelike

I bought this to practice IFR flying in Flight Simulator X. It works even without any of the included software and has fairly smooth movement. The elevator control can be a little imprecise at times but the aileron movement is smooth, though limited – the most it can tilt is approx 45 degrees, far less than in an actual plane. The elevator travel is similarly limited, and the yoke itself is oversized when compared to any of the small planes I've been in.

The throttle quadrant I have no complaints about. It works perfectly with FSX, the switches are great for gear/flaps/cowl etc and you can even simulate reverse thrust or prop feathering by mapping the detentes (the part of the axis below zero). You have to apply extra pressure to go down to these, which is good because you'll never do it accidentally. The detents show up as buttons in FSX and you'll have to map them using a third party program like FSUIPC. The throttle quadrant can also be attached to it's clamp in something like four different ways, so you've plenty of options.

Overall this is probably the best Yoke on the market, it has a metal shaft unlike some of the cheap plastic ones out there, and it's separate throttle quadrant allows for greater customization than if it were attached. I've bought another quadrant for multi-engine simulation as well. it's not perfect, but for the price you won't find better.