If you followed our coverage at FlightSimExpo, you may have noticed just how much hardware there was. Regardless of your flight simulation interest, there was most certainly something for everyone. Because of the sheer amount of hardware on display, it was hard to go hands-on for too long with most of it. This certainly rang true for the Honeycomb Aeronautical content, where they had a range of new products to try. Fortunately for us, the team kindly invited us to London to go hands-on with their upcoming range in a much more intimate environment.
Moving on from the Past
It should be said from the outset that this is Honeycomb Aeronautical entering its new era. It has completely left behind the past and is now fully focused on providing flight simulation hardware for all simmers in the future. With all the noise aside, the teams can focus squarely on designing, building, and listening to feedback to improve their products.
This focus was evident during the small event, as many key individuals were present to answer any questions we had. This included Snakebyte CEO Mike Auer, Head of Marketing Gil Moulin, and lead product developer Marc Küpper. All three put all the cards on their table, giving us the details about their upcoming suite of products.
What Are These New Products?
Before we tell you about them, it’s important to know what Honeycomb Aeronautical is bringing to the flight simulation market. They are already fully established in the world thanks to their Alpha and Bravo flight control units, with the Charlie Rudder Pedals being their most recent release. At the time of release, the Alpha Yoke was ahead of its time. Bringing a high-quality yoke, packed with features, at an extremely friendly price. Times have changed a little since then, and newcomers to the market are offering competitive products. Therefore, Honeycomb has used this as a chance to re-evaluate its own offering to create some new ‘lite’ editions.
Across the day, we were able to go hands-on with their Sierra TPM Module, the Alpha and Bravo ‘Lite’ series, the Foxtrot Aviation Stick, and the newly announced Echo Aviation Controller.
Were these finished products? No, each of them is in various stages of development. What was great about this, however, was that Honeycomb were receptive to feedback from us and other outlets, from a very early stage. “We gathered a lot of information and feedback at FlightSimExpo”, Gil said. “We heard what simmers had to say and will continue to refine products based on that feedback and this event, too. We really want to create products that connect with flight simmers and help introduce newcomers to the hobby.”
Going Hands-On
During the session for FSElite, the three of us (Jordan, Greg and I) were sent to different stations to try out the products. Each of us had a rep from the team talking us through the products. To begin my session, I went hands-on with the Foxtrot Aviation Stick.
Foxtrot Aviation Stick
I was keen to put this to the test, as I’ve been in the market for a new joystick personally for a long time. I had hoped that Turtle Beach would satisfy me with their attempt, but in the end, that stick just failed at the basics for me. So the first test I did was pull back sharply on the stick to see if it would lift off of the table. To my surprise and delight, it stayed firmly flush to the table. No wobble or movement at all – even when I applied excessive force. This is also surprising considering the weight of the stick is fairly light.
The build quality feels fairly reasonable for the price point Honeycomb is looking to achieve. The plastics used feel nice, with some nice rubber texturing on the stick itself. It’s good to note that the unit is ambidextrous, perfect for those varying up which hand they want to use, but I did feel that the large size of it meant that reaching the trigger and some other buttons was a little challenging for my medium-sized hands.
At the base of the unit, there were plenty of buttons, toggles and switches to assign to your sim. I particularly liked the autopilot controls. All from one place, you can twist the knob to the appropriate autopilot function (e.g. altitude), and then use the secondary rotary control to change the value, or at least in practice. I wasn’t able to get this to work in my session, but again, this is all WIP stuff.
The Foxtrot Aviation Stick in itself is fairly complete, but it almost becomes necessary to add the throttle box, adding an extra bit of cost to the overall unit. Why do I think it is a necessity? Simply due to the fact that the stick unit doesn’t feature a throttle control – pretty important for flight simulation.
That said, for the extra $30, you also get a parking brake, gear lever, engine cut-off/starter switches, and 4 axes overall, which can be assigned to throttles, flaps, spoilers and so forth. One thing I did point out was how the handles on the axis all looked like gear levers and perhaps some more unique characteristics could help differentiate this a little bit. Just to add a bit more of a premium feeling to it.
Echo Aviation Controller
Moving on, I next tried the Echo Aviation Controller. Now, I’m a big fan of advocating for more of these types of controllers in the market. The Yawman still lacks some vital features to make it a compelling purchase (e.g. wireless and Xbox compatibility), and regular Xbox controllers are missing functionality that is suited for flight simulation. So to have another controller coming to market with dedicated throttles, rudder pedal-style controls, and more is an exciting prospect.
My immediate feedback to the team about the controller was just how light it was. Personally, it is almost too light that it would be uncomfortable over longer periods of time. This feedback was taken on board by the team, and hopefully, we’ll see some refinement there. Generally, using the controller to fly was easy – even for a prototype build. You can release the parking brake, adjust the flaps, add mixture/prop, and trim.
One of the biggest complaints I had was the complete lack of face buttons. This wasn’t evident to me at the time of flying, but when I quit the sim, my instinct was to press a face button to confirm a menu selection. Having thought deeper, this would be a problem when trying to use a click-spot in the sim. I did ask Mark, and he said the reasoning for it is that the controller is currently planned for PC, and it’s assumed that the user would still have access to a mouse. Whilst this would be true, I feel it would be amiss not to have at least a couple of buttons for selection purposes to prevent having to go back and forth between controller types. This is an area where Yawman’s controller does excel, with plenty of configurable buttons on the controller.
With a planned retail price of $99.99 USD, the Echo Flight Controller has all the potential to be a real revolution in the space, to bring newcomers into the world of flight simulation. Even for the likes of me, this is a great value proposition as space on desks is always constrained, so having a controller like this will be a great tool. There is a worry that the low cost will mean that it will be wired, but providing it’s long enough, most could overlook this, and it leaves room for an upgraded version in the future.
Alpha and Bravo Lite
Honeycomb Aeronautical’s first product offering with the Alpha and Bravo certainly hit a massive home run in the market. The Alpha and Bravo units featured everything people wanted – great, high-quality controls for a reasonable price. Their response to the market was overwhelmingly positive. Over time, the price has crept up (inflation, tariffs and increased shipping costs since the Pandemic), meaning that the appeal has been lost a bit. Not only that, but it’s been many years since the originals came out, meaning Honeycomb has had time to refine their processes and tooling to provide even more quality products.
All of this made Honeycomb come up with new ‘Lite’ editions for their popular products. Both the Alpha and Bravo have been reimagined with new versions that strip away some of the more advanced features, whilst keeping the core of the product largely unchanged. If anything, those core mechanics are actually improved over their original counterparts, actually making it a compelling purchase for those looking to start their Honeycomb journey with flight controls.
The new Alpha controls strip away the switches, buttons and the engine starter key on the main body, but have kept most of the other buttons on the yoke itself. It also uses slightly different materials, has been reworked to be more consistent with the other products in the Honeycomb range, and will be available for $100 less than the original at just $199.99 USD.
The Bravo ‘Lite’, on the other hand, has a lot more changes compared to its original, bigger brother. It now features 4 axes (enough for 2-engine aircraft, plus flaps/spoilers, or a suite of GA flight controls). The trim wheel has been redesigned to be more robust, and there is now a new parking brake. In some ways, the Bravo ‘Lite’ is almost a v2 of the original Bravo unit, but all for just $199.99 USD.
Functionally, both are the same as before. More robust methods in the manufacturing process have been applied to the units, meaning you can expect high-quality builds overall. Both ‘lite’ units perform exactly as I remember the originals, and it was a nice reminder of how immersive the two side-by-side can make the flying experience.
Sierra TPM Module
Finally, the big new product was by far the furthest along in development. The Sierra TPM Module takes the learnings from the original Bravo unit and provides us with a metal-constructed vernier throttle setup. This was by far the most impressive product they had on display, both technically and functionally.
To use the new throttles, you need to press in the metal button to release the mechanism, and then you can slide the throttles accordingly. The Sierra also incorporates a fine-tune twist action, which allows you to incrementally adjust the power. They also have adjustable tension, meaning you can truly make them your own to fit your own flying style. All of the throttles felt incredibly premium and great, providing a very smooth experience all around.
As the Sierra TPM Module uses the same base as the Bravo unit, there is a lot of space left over for other functionality. There’s a flap toggle, a gear lever (complete with LED status lights) and even the new trim wheel found in the aforementioned Bravo lite.
At $249.99 USD, there is a risk that the price may be off-putting for some. But the price is being justified by Honeycomb thanks to its more premium materials and feature set. It’s still a compelling price compared to other flight sim hardware in the same space, and certainly fills a gap in the market.
Personally, this was my favourite product on display and could easily become a must-have for GA pilots looking for proper vernier throttles that are at a reasonable and affordable price. Once we get these in our own hands properly, we’re excited to put them through their paces.
Conclusion
Honeycomb Aeronautical clearly has a focus on its future. With the past behind them, their team now has the job of appealing back to the community that they are creating high-quality flight sim hardware for a large portion of the market. From what we’ve seen, they clearly have a vision and a roadmap that will tick all of those boxes.
The trip to London made it clear that they are ready to appeal to a wider audience than before, thanks to the Echo Controller, but also to keep hardcore simmers happy with the Sierra. Plus, for those ready to jump into the next level, but are more wallet-conscious, the Lite series gives the best of both worlds.
Whilst there is some work to do on some of their products before they can bring them to the masses, learning about the inner workings and design process clearly shows us that they’re still very much listening and willing to change moving forward.
It is exciting to see hardware see continued innovation, and we’re keen to go hands-on with the final hardware in the future. With their renewed focus and drive to create more engagement with the community, Honeycomb Aeronautical are on its way to being the bees’ knees once again.
Stay tuned for our video walkthrough of each of the products and a deep-dive technical analysis of each.
All images courtesy of Honeycomb Aeronautical and Overload PR.
