Customer Reviews

CH Products Throttle Quadrant USB (300-133)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought these in preparation for my multi-engine pilots license. Of course, I have been flying planes on Microsoft ( and Sublogic) well before I could get into a real cockpit. This is probably one of the best items from CH Products, especially if you like flying multi-engine aircraft or will be upgrading to flying a REAL multi-engine aircraft soon.

Microsoft and CH products have helped keep me sharper in the cockpit by allowing me to practice on the days when I can't go up for real. This product cannot be beat for customizability. I can go from a Beech Baron set-up to a Boeing 747 set-up just by playing with some settings. And if you have the CH Yoke and Rudder pedals, you have a relatively real flying experience without leaving your home.

If you are into military sims, this probably isn't for you. If you have Microsoft flight sim, X-plane, Fly or any other civilian sim and you value realism, you must get these.

$150 isn't cheap, but thats the cost of one hour of flight time in the Multi-engine plane I will be learning in. One hour of flight time versus hours of honing my skills at home? A worthy investment indeed!

The only downside, as there is on all CH products, are the clamps to hold it to the desk. They are really designed to fit desks that are thick and flat. If your PC desk has a curve to the front or is relatively thin, you have to find a better way to secure them to your desk. Wedging books or papers usually helps.

Great product! Takes a little playing with the Sensitivity and Assignments settings in MS Flight Simulator 2004 in order to fine-tune it, but no problem. I am no gaming nut or PC guru just private pilot, who will most likely never fly a craft with a 4-engine throttle quadrant! Also, the technical support is very responsive to a technical question.

I have several CH product pieces and love them all. The only down side I have found is the software that comes with them for calibration isn't very user friendly. I fly MSFS2004 and had to use a 3rd party software to be able to do what I wanted with the throttles (set beta and reverse ranges, feather detents and fuel c/o) but other than that it's very easy to set up, just plug it in and my computer did the rest. Couldn't imagine flying my Aeroworx King Air with out it!

The levers are actually pretty small. Not very realistic at all. It was VERY difficult to calibrate. I had to resort to google to find out why some of the assignments (reverse thrust) didnt work properly until I adjusted the factory default settings. I guess I was lucky to run across a thread with someone else having the same problem.
I use it for FS9. Its the only thing going at a reasonable price so what can you do? I reccommend it, but its not really that great. I'm not going to rave about it.

Adds a new dimension to Flight Simulator. Construction is as to be expected from CH Products: solid and strong.

Take the time to install the drivers and use the Control Manager that CH provides since it expands the possibilities 10-fold.

After reading the Dec. '04 review in Computer Pilot I ordered it. Fine tuning is a bit involved but repetition makes the curve easier. Configuring from one a/c type throttle to another is easy with the downloadable manager from CH prod. Compared to the GoFlight modular system this is great value. Unless $$ is no object and you're not interested in building a home cockpit, the CH line of av-sim controls is well suited to the aspiring and advaced flt. simmer.

Some random observations:

1) CH product support (specific questions answered) is outstanding if you know exactly where to look for it. Google your way to the 'CH Hangar' forum. All questions will be answered completely (probably by the author of CH Control Manager himself, Bob [Sticky]Church). Response times vary from several minutes to several hours. Not days, not weeks. For proof, take a peek in the forum before purchase!


2) Microsoft's Flight Simulator doesn't recognize what type of controllers you are trying to use and might automatically assign alierons rudders etc. onto the quad! It would be necessary to reassign the axes and buttons withing MSFS's menus itself. But first calibrate the controller. Second look in MSFS sensitivity settings (the fifth throttle axis will have sensitivity = 0 which is nonsense), just pull the six axes' sensitivity sliders to full.

3) Using CH's control manager you could set sensitivities, dead zones, centering, response curve which a few easy mouse clicks. This is usually not necessary but it's there to help if needed.

4) Works perfectly with Win XP or Vista.

5) Control manager gives setups for reverse thrust using CMS script, or its otherwise covered in a faq at the ch hangar forum (the forum also has a 'for dummies' introduction to control manager programming).

6) There are ridges (is that the right word) on the bottom of the controller which prevent it lying flat on the desktop, clamping to the front edge of the desk is the designed method for securing.

However there is a workaround to mount anywhere on top of the desktop. Buy a small attractive 1/2 thick shelving board at Home Depot, Lowes, .etc. Place parallel velcro strips along the bottom of the quad, and on the board's top. (Orient them 90 degrees out of phase- if strips are side to side on the quad, then front to back on the board).

Then do the same on the board bottom and desktop and you have a secure mount with the disadvantage of being left with strips glued to your desktop!

6) A few users mount the thing vertical (with clamps or velcro) instead of horizontal - levers move up and down instead of forward backward. This orientation is more natural for using the big levers to control main flaps, cowl flaps, landing gear, dive brakes, elevator trim.

But heck the 6 vertical fipper buttons can do that when its mounted in the usual horizontal position. Leaving the levers for use as 4 throttles, fuel mixture, and blade angle pitch.

First, the negative, like a lot of products of this type it comes with poor documentation. I figured it out with an advanced knowledge of FS and some logic. However, once you're hooked up it's a fun enhancement to FS. It is probably more useful for twin engines with pitch and mixture control. It allows you to control these facets with your hand and not by having to mouse onto the screen and hope up subscreens. With one hand on stick or yoke and the other over the quadrant you can control your aircraft during the busy times, takeoff and landing, without having to reach for a mouse. The quadrant buttons allow you to set up common switch functions which eliminates keyboard strokes or mouse clicks.

We originally ordered the "I-Pro" Throttle from Amazon for my son's Christmas gift. He's a big flight sim nut, and he was happy with the throttle, but he really wanted this one instead. It had more capabilities and had a more realistic feel. When we made the exchange, he said this was exactly right for him and he's been happily flying ever since! I would definitely recommend this product!

I've had this product for a few weeks, and I absolutely love it. It performs exactly as advertized, and it makes any flight simulator so much more realistic than using the "throttle" on a joystick (I have pilot's licenses for both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, as well as multi-engine fixed wing planes, and I'm instrument rated as well). The throttle quadrant is easy to program (so much so that it takes under one minute to reconfigure it for a different aircraft), and has the feel of a throttle quadrant one would find in an actual small to medium sized aircraft. And it makes taxiing those very old style multi-engine aircraft so much easier, as many of them do not respond well to their rudders at taxi speeds, and many of them don't have brakes, either. I am completely satisfied with this device, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone who wants a more realistic simulated flying experience. The only drawback it has, in my opinion, is that it must be clamped to a table edge, but that is such a minor drawback that I am still willing to recommend it without any reservations whatsoever.