737: My NEW GEAR – RedBird Alloy TH1

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.
Recently, 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.

In 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: 

719: My New Flight Illusion Trim Wheel

The HW-GEN003 Trim Wheel from Flight Illusion in The Netherlands belongs to a new line of products.  My first reaction after unpacking it is:  It’s HUGE !

No kidding.  I was actually stunned a little by its “huge” size even though I was prepared to accept that it would be big after reading its physical dimensions before the purchase.

Pardon me if I sound a bit exaggerated.

But it was true at that moment because the contrast was so big that this relatively huge unit was packed in a relatively small package — which is about half the size of the box shipping the Flight Velocity Trim Wheel, which on the contrary is about half the size of the Flight Illusion trim.

Frankly, I have never seen any other trim wheel for simulation bigger than this one.
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715: Recalibrating Yoke and Rudder Pedals

Found this video on Youtube and followed what he suggested on recalibrating my Rudder Peddles and Yoke even though they are not from Redbird — my Yoke is from VRInsight and Rudder from Saitek.

The result was surprisingly good. Not sure if it is

708: My Cockpit Rev #31 – ButtKicker Gamer 2

On this rainy day, I finally got the ButtKicker for my sim cockpit.

I had been inclined to the wireless model in the first place.   But after comparing the two models and my environment, I decided to get the wired Gamer 2 in the end.Probably I won’t have time to install it until the weekend.  Moreover,

706: Trim Wheel Pro Friction Mod

Earlier today, I received an email from Nicolas Bouesnard in France who acknowledges he has the same flaws on his Flight Velocity Trim Wheel Pro as I reviewed mine in Post 701.

Instead of leaving them as they are, he applied some mods to the unit and now he gets friction while turning the wheel.

Nicolas said:

704: VelocityOne Flight Control System

Just came across this VelocityOne Flight Universal Control System for Xbox Series and Windows 10 from Turtle Beach.  Sorry, never heard of the company before.  I am really not a game enthusiast.The product looks pretty cyber and arcade game feel.

News: RealSimGear Refurbished Sale

RealsimGear currently is offering discounts on a limited quantity of refurbished components, which are in perfect working condition.   They come with a 12-month warranty and full customer support.

https://realsimgear.com/collections/refurbished

If you are longing for one, this is a good time.

BTW, the GMA350 Audio Panel is not recommended for MSFS.

701: Flight Velocity Trim Wheel Pro Review

If you have ever used any trim wheel circuited with an encoder before, you should have experienced that the last position remembered by it could be very annoying if you forget to set its position back to the center at the start of a flight.

Since I got the Cessna Trim Wheel from Saitek many years ago, I’ve been looking for a solution to this annoyance.   But search is futile.

So when I found out Flight Velocity was soon to release a new product called Trim Wheel Pro which would use new software last Decemeber, I was quite excited, hoping that it could be a remedy to my agony.

Unfortunately, after checking with the company, the new player is no exception.  The issue seems to be unsolvable.

700: My Cockpit Rev #30 – Trim Wheel Pro

Yesterday, I got the Trim Wheel Pro from Flight Velocity, which I am planning to replace the Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel which has been in service for many years.

A unique feature that distincts it from the Saitek one is an adjustable control knob on the unit, thru which users can vary and finetune the elevator trimming pitch during a flight.

After Logitech chopped the production of Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel since its acquisition, there aren’t similar trim wheels on the market one can find for a long time.

Is this Trim Wheel Pro a good replacement ?

How does it perform ?

Is the adjustable knob useful ?