TPM

737: My NEW GEAR – RedBird Alloy TH1

| Tom Tsui

I bet many friends like me have heard about the various flightsim gears from Redbird Flight Simulations, and very likely might have read reviews and comments about them on the Internet.  But I don’t think many of us really had a chance to try them on, because the company doesn’t sell their gears thru third-party vendors — at least I haven’t noticed anyone yet.
TH1_01Recently, I got the Alloy TH1 throttle quadrant from the company to replace my Saitek Cessna TPM which has been in service for over a decade in my work system.

TH1_002_resizeIn my flightsim-only setup, I have the VirtualFly V3RNIO+.

Actually, I was thinking of getting another V3RNIO+ to replace the Saitek TPM at the time the company was offering a 15% discount promotion.

However, the discounted price was around $900, which is still a lot of money, not to mention an extra $100 for the shipping to be added.

While I was hesitating if I should go for another V3RNIO+, I came across the Redbird Alloy TH1 again.

Just like the VirtualFly V3RNIO+, the Redbird Alloy TH1 is also a vernier-style throttle quadrant that comes with a Throttle Friction Lock and Propeller & Mixture Fine-adjustment Control mechanisms as found on the real aircraft.  And it earns some good comments from its users, too.

In addition, its $569 price tag, comparatively, sounds more reasonable and affordable.

Therefore, after some serious considerations and especially due to the $350 in price difference (or $480 with no discount), I decided to give the Redbird Alloy TH1 a go.

For more than a month now, I’ve been using the Alloy TH1 extensively.

Is my bold investment on the Alloy TH1 justified?  How does it perform compared to the VirtualFly V3RNIO+?  Here’s my review:  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 →

105: My TPM Switch Assignment

| Tom Tsui

Updated: 2011-1004
Lately, I have replaced my long-time Saitek Yoke with CH Eclipse Yoke after re-tuning my FSX system several weeks ago.   Because of that, many controls of my gears have to be reconfigured accordingly.

Followings are the new switch assignments for the TPM.

Continue reading →

97: Double TPM Programmable Switches

| Tom Tsui

Saitek’s TPM Control Unit comes with 9 programmable toggle switches.    However, FSX’s SETTINGS only recognizes their downward actions during BUTTONS/KEYS assignments.    In other words, only 50% of TPM’s programmability are used.

To fully utilize the TPM: Continue reading →