CH Products Throttle Quadrant USB (300-133)

I am a certified flight instructor who was looking to keep my skills sharp during periods of flying inactivity. I purchased Microsoft's Flight Simulator X and started to assemble the necessary hardware to complete a reasonable home flight simulator. I purchased just about everything Saitek makes (yoke, rudder pedals, 2 radio stacks, throttle quadrant, annuciator panel, auto pilot,....) but wasn't satisfied using the "levered" single-control throttle/prop/mixture control for multi-engine work (Beech Baron) that is provided with the Saitek yoke "kit." So, I ordered CH's throttle quadrant. After downloading the driver off the provided CD, I plugged in the USB connection and much to my surprise, this device was truly plug-and-play. I didn't have to fuss with the settings (something I can't say about the Saitek controls...) . It worked immediately as I hoped it would. I should mention that it took nearly a month to receive the device after I placed my order. If you're in a hurry, good luck with that. The controls themselves are a bit flimsy and you have to pull past a light detent (reverse thrusters for some applications I assume) in order to achieve idle on recip engines - not a big deal really. That's all of the negative things I can come up with for now. Overall, it works, and satisfies the requirement to get your hands moving on the right controls at the right times. Could the quality and feel of the device be improved? Sure, for more money. Knowing what I know now that I've used the device I would definitely order it again.

I debated for years about how much hardware to get for flight simulators and how much it would add to the fun of the games. After considering the alternatives I have to say that CH products are just great. They are built to last, and with USB, they are easy to configure. This throttle quadrant is fun. It simplifies multiple engines. We use CH pedals and a Logitech joystick. All together they work very well. Sim flying was abandoned by Microsoft, but the old flight simulators work just fine, and still are enjoyable as a break from the first person shoot em ups. I think it is worth the money.

This is a great choice for a Throttle Quadrant, especially if you are looking for a budget solution. It doesn't feel cheap, but one thing I noticed is the plastic assignment caps are quite hard to remove. You have to give them a pretty good tug to remove them and put on the desired replacement. I is very solid on the desk after you anchor it down with the supplied two clamps......it isn't going anyway believe me! It is plug and play on my Xplane 11 using my imac computer. All you need is a spare USB slot. The new hardware is immediately recognize when launching Xplane and I love how you can assign the six paddle switches to a task. I have mine as shown with labels. The throttle levers are quite close to one another, but you can't expect a more pro model of quadrant unless you pay about $800.

I'm a long-time fan of CH Products' controllers. This is the first one I haven't been totally happy with.The biggest problem I have is that the throttles lack precision. They have a short throw and short levers and it's hard to get them exactly where you want them to be. I found this to be particularly problematic when flying twin-engine aircraft; it's really difficult to get the engines exactly in sync. The movement is slightly stiff and there's no way to control how loose or stiff the levers move.I also don't like that these have two detents. There is a detent when the levers are at idle, and if you pull them back farther there is a second detent. Unlike the Saitek throttles where the second detent triggers a button, these are only an extended range of the total lever movement, and I haven't figured out how to use the "full back" detent in any practical way. I calibrated mine to ignore the "full back" detent; however, even when you do this, to move the throttles out of idle you have to apply extra pressure to move them out of the detent which makes them even more imprecise and gives them a less realistic feel.The tops of the handles are swapable. However, the fit is extremely tight and I found it very difficult to get them to seat properly. It's not something you'd want to do on a regular basis. You will probably have to do it at least once though, as the unit comes out of the box with an oddball combination of four throttle levers in the middle with a single prop and mixture lever on each end, and not the standard piston prop configuration you see in the picture.Another problem is the desk clamps. My desk is about 3/4" thick and the clamps just barely hold the unit to the desk when they are at their tightest setting, and even then it still wobbles a bit. If you have a desk that is less than 3/4" thick the desk clamps will not work without some kind of modification.One thing I do like is the six momentary up/down switches on the front of the unit. They feel nice and are perfect for controlling things like flaps and trim. The unit is plug-and-play and requires no software to program the buttons, another plus.I've used the Saitek throttles and find them to be more precise, although they are notorious for breaking easily, and you have to buy two if you want a twin-engine setup. (That's actually kind of a moot point as I write this as Saitek appears to have stopped manufacturing most of their flight sim products, at least for the foreseeable future.) Based on past experience with CH Products controllers, I would expect this to last a very long time.These throttle are definitely better than using a keyboard or one of those wheels on a joystick, but they are far from perfect and could definitely be improved.