Reviews

577: What I Dislike in HoneyComb Alpha Yoke Part 3

| Tom Tsui

…continued from Part 2

FIP Adaptation

If my memory is correct, there were mentionings in Honeycomb’s earliest news that the designer(s) of the Alpha yoke had Saitek backgrounds.  Probably he is (or they are).  Because not only the yoke has a shadow of Saitek counterparts but it also comes with a bracket mount to accommodate various Saitek or Logitech Pro Flight Panels.  This is not found on other brands.

No matter where the designer is from, as an owner of many Saitek/Logitech flightsim gears, the “adaptability” is a sure winner.  However, I wish the adaptation could be done with more thoughts. Continue reading →

576: What I Dislike in HoneyComb Alpha Yoke Part 2

| Tom Tsui

…continued from Part 1

Switches on the Body

I must say that integrating battery, avionics, lights and magneto switches to the yoke is a brilliant user-friendly features.   However, I am a little disappointed because the switches on it are only basics and are not as feature-rich as those on my VRInsight Flight Master Yoke II.

Moreover, the magneto switches on the Alpha yoke are moved to the right, which is a bit odd to my eyes. Continue reading →

575: What I Dislike in HoneyComb Alpha Yoke Part 1

| Tom Tsui

The HoneyComb Alpha Yoke, I believe, is one of the hottest flightsim gears these days.  I got mine in February and it is the sixth yoke I got — from the very first Saitek Yoke (2007), to the CH Eclipse Yoke (2011), Saitek Cessna Yoke (2012), VRInsight Flight Master Yoke II (2014), and the last VirtualFly Yoko Yoke (2018).  It’s no surprise that none of them is perfect, but surely each one has something good to praise.

You may have seen other reviews about the good and bad of the HoneyComb Alpha Yoke.  By no means to lower the product, followings are just the things I dislike from a user’s standpoint — both objectively and subjectively. Continue reading →

573: A Quick Update on P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

I flew the P3Dv5 continuously for nearly three hours this afternoon.  Besides the landclass issues that I mentioned in my Post 568 earlier, I didn’t encounter any other issues reported in P3D forum during the session (perhaps some but not noticeable to me) luckily.

Of course the ATC service was kept silence all the time except during take-off and landing.  This is a known bug so far causing freezes or CTDs.  Other than that, I really feel the new simulator runs smoother.

Be the way, I have clean installed the latest Nvidia drivers again and Continue reading →

568: Really No Need to Rush for P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

After running P3Dv5 for two days, my initial impression stated at Post 564 continue to be valid.  Also true is my earlier comment saying that “there’s really no need to rush for it.”

If I remember correctly, every time when P3D had a major update (1.xx, 2.xx, 3.xx, 4.xx), the very first version always full of issues.  This latest version 5.0 is of no exception.

Followings are a couple of photos comparing the Sion Airport (LSGS) and Bowermen Airport (KHQM) between version 4.5 and 5.0.

The big trench on the left is flat actually.   Orbx Base Pack & EU open LC don’t help.

Continue reading →

564: A Quick Impression on P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

I ran the new P3Dv5 for a few hours this morning with many addons (such as Orbx scenery and Carenado Aircraft) I used on P3Dv4.  As expected, it didn’t give me too much excitment, including the new logo and the new design of the option menu in the program, for which I am well prepared from what I experienced from the company’s previous updates in about every two years.

But to be fair, there are still many improvements and some are very nice indeed,
for example the Enhanced Atmoshperics feature, from which I get the sky color tone on my HDTV more true to the reality.  This is the first time from all the flight simulators I’ve ever played so far. Continue reading →

519: Now I Fly 3D Occasionally

| Tom Tsui

After the cataract surgeries last month, the vision of my eyes suffers from slight splitting when looking at lighted objects, among which the computer display is the worst of all (similar as shown in the image but not as serious).

The doctor says the side-effect is normal, and the brain needs times to adapt to the artificial lenses newly implanted — thanks goodness, it is getting better now.

So in the first two weeks after the surgery, my main pastime was watching TV, in order to give my eyes some rests as well as training to adapt to the new lenses.

One day while turning on the TV, I spotted there is a Continue reading →

501: VRInsight Flight Master TPM Review

| Tom Tsui

I have to admit that I am obsessed with TPM to some extent.   So when I find out VRInsight had released a standalone TPM recently, I ordered one without much hesitation, even though I just had purchased a GoFlight GF-TPM not too long ago.

It took about 2 weeks to receive the Flight Master TPM from the company directly.

The Body

Like its bigger brothers Flight Master Yoke-II I reviewed last August, the unit is Continue reading →

481: GoFlight GF-TPM Review

| Tom Tsui

Last month, I bought a GoFlight GF-TPM because the Saitek TPM I’ve been using for years is too big for the new cockpit I am building.

Frankly, the GoFlight TPM wasn’t my preferred choice in the beginning due to its relatively high price ($169) and lack of extra features compared to the Saitek one.

However, there aren’t much choice on the market.  And most importantly, its size does fit nicely to my layout requirements.   So I ordered one.

The following is a review after using it for a few weeks. Continue reading →