My first experience with flight controls was the infamously abysmal T.Flight HOTAS. I've been trying to get into flight sims since 2018, but never had the money. I started out playing War Thunder and KSP with the T.Flight HOTAS, but never had a good time. I tried again when MSFS2020 released for the Xbox Series S and still just had a terrible time due to the terrible quality of that cheap stick and throttle. Eventually, I forgot that aviation was supposed to be my favorite hobby, and I moved on. Over time, I was still occasionally looking into the flight sim market and seeing how others were building their home cockpits. I really wanted to build a home cockpit of my own. But I couldn't decide if I wanted to focus on military aviation via DCS, or general aviation vis MSFS or X-Plane.

Almost a year ago, I finally got a nice PC for my 22nd birthday, and I experienced the wonderful world of PC gaming for the first time. I've spent the entirety of the past year building a good setup around my new computer. And while I was browsing Steam sales a couple of weeks ago, I found that X-Plane 12 was on sale. I finally decided that I was going to build a nice GA home cockpit now that I had received a few raises at work and could afford it. I recalled that everyone was ranting and raving about Honeycomb, saying just how good their hardware is. So I decided to look into it, and I decided to try the Alpha yoke. I originally wanted the XPC version for the upgrades it came with, but it was, and still is at the time of writing, sold out. People were saying that the base Alpha is still good, and that you could easily live without the extra features and upgrades. So I finally pulled the trigger on Monday.

The yoke was delivered to my workplace on Friday while I was clocked in. When me and my coworker weren't busy, we unboxed it. My first impressions were indescribable. The yoke itself and all the buttons, switches, the dial, and the hat switch all feel absolutely incredible. The pitch and roll axis are stupid smooth. The mounting system is incredibly rigid and easy to quickly install and remove. My coworker wanted to play with it a little bit, so I let him. He's the kind of guy who goes through mice, keyboards, controllers, headphones, earbuds, glasses, phones, etc really quickly since he simply doesn't understand that it's not normal to bang on and throw things (he has mild autism). I know that I could pressure him into buying me a new yoke if he broke this one, so I let him stress test it for several minutes. He used it hard, like, really really hard, and it survived. Nothing is lose, the potentiometers still work perfectly, nothing is cracked or scratched, it's still in brand new condition. So now I know that the Alpha is Gabe-proof, which means I should expect to be able to pass this down to my great grandchildren before I die.

Taking it home and actually plugging it in to my computer for the first time, I expected first time setup to be a hassle like it usually is for Linux. But it was surprisingly plug and play. Likely because I had already set up an external condenser mic and webcam, so the permissions for external hardware was already setup. JSTest recognized it and all of its inputs immediately. X-Plane 12 already had a profile for it, including interactive pictures for easy mapping. It was completely plug and play, except for my wanting to setup a few custom profiles for a few different aircraft. I was actually giddy when flying with it for the first time. I was stoked to be able to fly an aircraft without everything jittering and jolting. The Alpha taught me that the T.Flight HOTAS set the bar so low that it was practically a tripping hazard in hell.

I'm writing this on Sunday, so I've spent the past two and a half days flying with the Alpha in X-Plane 12 while watching anim. Just because I simply cannot stop myself from using the thing, it's way too much fun to fly with. I thought I would hate not having a spring loaded start switch. But I got used to it after starting a Cessna once, and realizing that I barely noticed myself manually disengaging the starter. I thought that the stiff pitch axis would be hard to get used to since literally everyone was complaining about it. And while it wasn't as quick to get used to as the starter switch, I'm still finding it easier and easier to use the more I fly. Now I'm excited to get the Bravo and Charlie incorporated into my cockpit.

TL;DR: The T.Flight HOTAS sucks, the Alpha is unparalleled in value for the money. The Alpha works natively on Fedora Linux 44 KDE and X-Plane 12. This yoke is literally the best thing since sliced bread. The Alpha has helped me finally scratch the aviation itch I've had for eight years straight.

Thank you Honeycomb. I'm looking forward to building my first home cockpit around your hardware. But please ship your yokes with a spare set of underpowered tension cords.

I really enjoy the mobility, and quick accessibility of this flight controller. I just had my first child and this thing has been a game changer for those short spurts while I am on night duty and she is sleeping. Don’t have to setup the whole rig, just fire it up and play a little. So far one week in and still haven’t had to recharge the battery either. Absolutely love my Honeycomb Echo! P.S. I use it for IL2 and civilian flight sims. The combat sim controls have to be dumbed down, but other than that it works great!

Already own one which I really like. This new one is for a second computer.

Still trying to figure it out, but it's an AWESOME piece of equipment! "Funny!" I purchased it for my son's X-Box and he told me after a week of me trying to get it to work with that X-Box; and finding out that it was made only for PC's. As soon as I put the flash drive into my Simionic setup it worked perfectly, even though the simulator kept showing that it was competing with the other peripherals doubled up in certain bindings. I have two Flight Simulator Panels here (1/ Simionics; 2. FSW). I like your ECHO and will keep it for when I travel to use with my Laptop and X-Plane 11/12. Thank you for checking in on me to see how I was doing with it. Surely appreciated. I'll send a picture or a video shortly. Joseph Bush

Every bit the build quality of the Alpha yoke!

Awesome chair. Easy to follow assembly instructions. Very comfortable and I love that the wheels lock. Very solid construction.

Just what i wanted to jump in and fly not fiddle with constant flight setup st my computer desk. Look forward to the ps5 version in the future!

Just perfect

With my gaming pc space constraints. I wanted something i could turn on get to flying but have more simulator style plane controls than what a standard xbox controller could offer. This is compact and well made! All the switches and levers feel solid and tactile. Look forward to a ps5 version down the road so i can rock the 75 inch tv! Box and case are also slick for interchanging and storing components. Job well done to honeycomb team! 👍👍👍👍

Great quality, fun, and easy to use. I fly with this all the time.

Good, but config to msfs 2024 is middle, it can be better. Quality is very good.

Świetnie, po zakupie doszedł w najlepszej jakości, i jest bardzo dobry i funkcjonalny. Jedyny minus to brak dobrej konfiguracji z msfs 2024.

Amazing addition to the rest of my honeycomb products! No blemishes or anything, but on one of my throttle axis the detent is lighter than the others, sometimes allowing it to be pressed down without notice.

I love it so far!

Works great