Special Microsoft Flight Simulator controller for Xbox is 'ready to fly', US sales begin

Honeycomb now says its Echo Aviation Controller XPC is "ready to fly" in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. THis line comes from a fresh purchase email sent to US reservation holders, nearly a week after the company pulled its first batch of buy links — read more about that here.

The same reader (u/Hilaveli) who shared the earlier emails with us got this one too. It holds a unit for them until November 6 at 4:37 PM UTC (likely based on their booking time), and the price is still $179.99. Honeycomb gives reservation holders 48 hours to pay, so the email likely went out around November 4. The button now shows  "Complete your purchase." So far, no second email has followed asking buyers to hold off.

Checkout also gives a better idea of timing. According to our reader, it lists standard shipping at 3 to 4 business days, with no mention of November 20. That suggests paid units ship right away rather than waiting for the official date, though Honeycomb hasn’t said so outright. Its US product page hasn’t changed yet, either, and still asks visitors to reserve the controller ahead of November 20.

Plus, the new invite uses the same template as the earlier ones. It probably went out to more people on the waiting list than just our reader. Reservations also still only accept US addresses.

However, there is a caveat to Honeycomb's "ready to fly" claim. The company paused sales last week because the ready-made XPC profiles in the in-game Marketplace weren’t live yet. Back then, it said it didn’t want buyers unboxing the controller only to set everything up from scratch. The new email says some aircraft "may need a few controls assigned," and that more profiles are coming to the Marketplace "over the coming weeks." So the controller works in MSFS 2024 now. The remaining profiles will probably arrive after the first units reach buyers, though.