I purchased the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke with Three-Lever Throttle (PZ44) and almost regretted my purchase after reading so many bad reviews. But after one month with it, I'm very happy with my purchase.

The trick to using this product in Microsoft Flight Simulator X is to remove all of the joystick assignments in the controls' settings. I recommend deleting ALL of the joystick assignments (to include normal and slew modes) for all controller types (both the yoke and mouse).

The only joystick assignment I kept was for the 'View (Pan)' command so I could use the hat switch (the round thumb switch located on top of the yoke's left grip) to look around.

I programmed the blue and red throttle axes using the 'Control Axes' section to control my 'Propeller' and 'Mixture' settings. The 'Aileron', 'Elevator' and 'Throttle' commands were already programmed so I didn't have to worry about them.

All-in-all, when I finally got over the excitement of using my yoke and throttle quadrant and took the time to program them, they worked without a hitch.

the yoke and throttles are so much better than buttons that I maybe over-rating this product. As a real pilot I miss the feedback feel from the controls, but this is very close to real life. I may not have my sensitivities and dead zones set right yet.

I was very hesitate about ordering this yoke after reading all of the Amazon reviews pertaining to Phantom inputs (gear up, view cycles, etc). Until now I've always used CH yokes.

I did experience the phantom key inputs... I was able to solve it. Read on.

First Impressions:

I was surprised by the construction of the Saitek yoke. Everything is contained in the yoke enclosure - very solid. The top is flat and has enough area to sit a keyboard, mouse or even laptop. A nice change from the CH yokes that are rounded. There are 3 USB inputs on the back. They do not have enough power to handle most devices. There is a DC input, I assume to boost the USB ports. However it did not ship with a DC adapter.

I am disappointed with the throttle quad but for the price for yoke and throttle combination I am not complaining. The "knobs" are not interchangeable. You are stuck with the throttle/prop/mixture config. It would be nice if it came with 2-3 extra knobs (extra throttle and a flap or spoiler) for a jet configuration. The 3-4 inche full range of motion is nice compared to the CH yokes (only 1-1.5 inches).

Phantom Inputs

Yep. Every-time the throttles passed through aprox 50% the view would cycle. I visited the Saitek website message board and after sorting through other users guessing on how to fix it, etc... finally found a solution. As I understand it, FSX was using two sets of drivers. Default XP drivers (which FSX was assigning commands to) and then the actual Saitek drivers but only showing one Saitek yoke in the drop down. I had to uninstalled the Saitek software and drivers, load FSX - and delete all of the joystick assignments. Sure enough in there was "S" assigned to a button to cycle the views. Exit FSX, reinstall the Saitek drivers and configure the yoke. No problems.

I fly several sims, including fsx, and this system works great for all of them. There are several programmable components so you can customize just about any function that you want, and the quality and fluid operation of this system makes it a total joy to use.

I bought this product initially with hesitation because of all of the problems people seemed to have with it. The key to installation is to not use the drivers on the CD it comes with. Also go to the forums that tell you how to delete certain registry entries that give you a clean slate on your yoke and button assignments. After clearing your assignments on FS9 and/or FSX like I have, you go in and set the assignments anew for your yoke and throttle assembly. Then you won't get the gear down and view change anomalies. I use the CH pedals without any problems along with the Saitek stuff. When those quit working though I will switch to the the Saitek pedals. This product is heavy duty and real looking compared to the CH yoke that I used for 3 years. The metal shaft and LED clock look very awesome. Go ahead and buy this, you will be glad you did. Buy the way, I did install the CD drivers initially just to see if the problems would occur. They did. Went to Saitek forums and found the solution. Follow the directions on deleting registry entries and deleting your yoke assingnments and everything works great.