For those of us without the coin to drop on lessons learning to actually fly, flight simulators are as close as we’ll come to soaring with the birds. Fortunately, there are a slew of products available to make that experience more convincing, and Saitek introduced two more on Wednesday with the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System and Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant.
These things aren’t toys. Most novices sitting down to operate Saitek’s yoke would probably be as befuddled as if they were sitting in front of the real thing. It features 14 buttons, a POV hat switch, 3-position mode switch and elevator and aileron axes controlled via the yoke. Since all of the controls are fully programmable, Saitek includes its Saitek Smart Technology (SST) programming software to aid in mapping all those functions to buttons and saving them in profiles.
Saitek’s Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant can be thought of as an add-on to give pilots even more controls. Its three levers can be configured to operate aircraft throttles, adjust elevator trim, fuel mixture, engage reverse thrust at landing or any number of variable settings. Swappable lever heads allow pilots to rearrange the layout to their own liking and rocker switches for each lever give an additional level of customization. Like the yoke, the throttle quadrant is fully compatible with Saitek’s SST programming software.
Both the yoke and throttle quadrant are available now through Saitek’s Web site for $149.95 and $59.95, respectively. They join the rest of Saitek’s Pro Flight range, which includes rudder pedals and the X52 flight system.
