Mad Catz PZ45 Pro Flight Throttle Quandrant

Pros: Smooth controls. Extra knobs and a "T" handle to gang throttles. Recognized by FSX. Solid mount and anti-skid pads work well to keep it in place. Works with Win XP x64 out of the box with CD drivers.

Cons: Screws too short for proper top mounting. You only have about 1 thread and can strip it out. Programming software instructions seem to be for the joystick. You need to interpret them for your use. Seems to need calibration in FSX each time you fly. Sometimes overlaps my Logitech Extreme 3D Pro flight stick functions, but may just be drivers.

Other Thoughts: Drivers MUST be installed. Drivers on the disk are dated 2007. Plastic shafts need care when changing knobs. It's clunky and really isn't positioned like a real throttle quadrant in a plane. This control needs to be used on the left (if you're right handed) when using a joystick. A flight yoke might be better.

Pros: Love it! I was debating b/w CH and Saitek, and I am happy I went with the Saitek. Motion is fluid, no problems with buttons, and feels very sturdy. Feels like a completely new game compared to my MS wireless controller, which I used for about 6months.

I do not use the included drivers/program as FSUIPC works perfectly, and I understood many people had problems with "phantom buttons" after installing the included software. I simply didn't even try!

Cons: None

Pros: *Customizable lever knobs, including a 4 engine jet connector for dual quadrant setup, i liked that.
*Lots of different mounting options for different desk setups.
*Feels pretty rugged & durable, will provide many hours of fun.
*Not too expensive considering that i was planning on home brewing one and came up to around $100 in parts and 2-3 hours of labor.
*If you are really into rotorcraft you can flip it around and mount it to your mouse tray or tv tray and use the throttle lever as a collective lever, it works really well, you can even use the propeller as the collective and then assign the throttle as the literal throttle for a piston engine heli!!!!!
*Looks amazing sitting here on my desk, im glad they used the color scheme they did, black with red and white decals, "almost looks like a real throttle quadrant, would have been better if they angled them like in a beechcraft baron58, oh well.......

Cons: *Was sort of a pain to setup in FSX w/ Accel.
*Suffered from phantom key presses and random key assignments, there is a fix if you visit the saitek forums, but we shouldn't have to do that, DO NOT INSTALL THE SAITEK SOFTWARE!!!!!, Windows can recognize and use it just fine and FSX will work with it out of the box.
*I was able to purchase this at a local big box retailer for less than newegg had it for!? Come on newegg, what's the deal?
*It comes with a very short USB cord, i needed a few more feet so i had to go buy a 6' USB ext. cord.

Other Thoughts: If you are an avid FS gamer, you can't go without this. I fly mostly heli's and my order of purchase was 1.)High quality joystick, 2.) Saitek Pro Flight Rudder pedals, 3.) This item, 4.) Saitek Pro Flight switch panel. (very fun btw).
Good buy, would def. buy again
Highly recommend to others

Pros: Good Looking

Cons: When you toggle between views at flying mode the throttle comes back to idle. Needs driver installation the CH Fighterstick USB works right out the box, No driver installation needed.

Pros: Technically it worked.

Cons: This comment is for Flight Sim 2004 only. Only 1 of 3 throttle worked some what, the other 2 would not go to 110%. And even the 1 that worked, would not go down to 0%, hang around 20% or so. REV worked. Tried to configure the other 2 as FLAP and Elevator Trim, but they would not work 100%. Flap would only go from 5deg to 20deg (supposed to be 0deg to 30deg), and Trim go from 0% to 50%, then jumped to 100%, why?

Other Thoughts: I had bought this to suppliment my Saitek PS33 Aviator Joystick, which worked FANTASTIC controlling the elevator trim and throttle (except no REV, have to use a button for that). So if you want to fly Flight Sim 2004 (or X), just get Saitek PS33 Aviator Joystick, the rest use keyboard or the switches.

Pros: Very smooth lever movement. Indents at the bottom of the axes provide a very nice null zone, and they go down a little extra.

Cons: Cable is only 6 ft or so, I would have liked at least 8 ft. Doesn't have 4 levers for a dual engine, spoilers, flaps config. (but one throttle is just fine). Doesn't have indents for flap positions. (I guess I will have to custom fab)

Other Thoughts: If more levers are needed a second(or more) can be purchased and placed side-by-side.