Hardware

Whilst there continues to be a bit of a shortage of components in order to make hardware across the world, developers and manufacturers continue to press on with their plans to provide fans with new ways to interact with their games and simulators. Thrustmaster is one such company and has confirmed plans to announce a number of new products before the end of the year.

On social media, Thrustmaster said that before the end of the year, they will unveil two new bits of hardware that relate to flight simulation. The first will be a new Flying Joystick bundle for PC and the second will be a new Flying Yoke system for Xbox consoles and PC. Details on both are nonexistent right now. On the post, they said, “we are truly grateful for the support and interest you are showing by regularly asking for news on our upcoming projects.” It continues, “as we have a lot of amazing products in all our different universes to reveal in the next six months, here is a summary of what we will unveil before the end of 2021.”

Thrustmaster has been actively developing and bringing new hardware to the flight simulation scene for years now, with the most recent hardware being the TCA Airbus packages. They have been met with critical acclaim, so hopefully whatever Thrustmaster has in store will meet those same expectations and demands.

As for when and where this announcement will take place; it appears as though FlightSimExpo 2021 is the answer. We don’t have any further details just yet, but with such a large presence at this year’s show, there’s no doubt something will be announced during this period of time. As always, we’ll be following the news and bringing it back to you as and when we learn more.

The featured image used is from the TCA Airbus Series and not representative of a new product.

Home cockpit builders will be pleased to see that a new player is on the scene with a brand-new standalone plug and play 737 CDU module. Developed by Cockpit Part Aviation Technology Co. Ltd, the new Cockpit Master CS 737X CDU enables simmers to simply plug in the device into a PC and use it seamlessly with a variety of aircraft.

Designed specifically for Boeing aircraft in a variety of simulators, the CS 737X CDU simply plugs into your PC via a USB port and it will connect via a bridge to your aircraft. Once connected, you can use the CDU as though you were using the real thing. With zero lag between input and it recognising in the simulator, the experience is meant to be seamless. Furthermore, the product comes with a full-colour TFT-LCD screen and has adjustable brightness and colours depending on the aircraft type. To help support the product on your desk, it comes with an adjustable aluminium desktop stand.

The CS 737X CDU works with FSX, Prepar3D, X-Plane and soon Microsoft Flight Simulator. Whilst it is dubbed a “737” product, it is actually compatible with the PMDG 737NG (and NGXu), PMDG 747 and the PMDG 777. On X-Plane, it is compatible with the Zibo 737-800 and also the IXEG 737-300.

Pre-orders for the Cockpit Master CS 737X CDU are now open on Aerosoft. Pre-ordering will save you 5% off the full price, meaning you can buy one for €598.73 (excludes tax and shipping).