This new sim flying rig comes with a mini display built for MS Flight Sim
A yoke handle design offers a different flying experience to a stick.
If you want to experience what it's like to fly a Boeing 747 or Dreamliner, you'll want to use yoke controls rather than a side stick. Unlike Airbus, Boeing doesn't go in for all that stick malarkey, and that's a fun airplane fact for you, free-of-charge. You have a few options for PC-compatible gear today, such as the Logitech G Saitek and Honeycomb, but there's also a new contender looking to wrestle control of your wings: the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flight.
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The VelocityOne PC will launch "this summer" for PC and Xbox Series X/S. It's a full yoke control system with quadrant throttle, but the use of a yoke handle will offer a slightly different flying experience to your usual joystick and throttle duo. It's pretty well suited to commercial and small aircraft flying, though, so will be a good fit for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Speaking of which, I'd wager VelocityOne's launch is tied to Microsoft Flight Sim on Xbox consoles, coming July 27, 2021. So perhaps keep an eye out for launch then.
The yoke steering controls offers tons of functionality from the looks of things. Some of which will be required for manoeuvring the plane (rudder control, brakes, etc.) but others that will simply make life a little easier for sim flying.
The main allure of this particular system, however, could well end up being the Flight Management Display, which can be used to help you learn the controls (which could be very useful) or configuring your in-aircraft systems in MS Flight Sim. It looks pretty neat, but Turtle Beach does note that some of its features will only be enabled after launch.
There's also a status indicator panel to give you a heads-up before anything catches on fire, which may be especially useful if you prefer free-flying with an outside of the cockpit camera view.
At $350, it's not the cheapest going, however. That's quite a bit more cash than the comparable Logitech G Saitek setup and pricier Honeycomb. You're getting everything you need for some serious Flight Sim action, at least, and after the brief shortage in joysticks last year, which now appears to have eased, I'm happy to see more options available for frequent flyers.
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Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, and would go on to run the team as hardware editor. He joined PC Gamer's top staff as senior hardware editor before becoming managing editor of the hardware team, and you'll now find him reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries and testing the newest PC components.