Special controller for Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane now available

The new Echo Aviation controller is now available directly at Honeycomb. It's only orderable directly from the manufacturer for now, even specialized online stores have not listed this gamepad thus far.

Honeycomb is charging $150 for this new controller, but this prices includes several accessories like a carrying case similar to the one for the Xbox Elite controller, a 2.4GHz dongle and various levers that can be used to adapt the gamepad to certain aircraft. These include specific levers for propeller planes and levers for jets.

This is supposed to allow flight simulator players to use all essential functions while gaming on the go. A flight stick or yoke replacement, throttle control and rudder pedals are available. Usually, these are three separate devices that take up a lot of space on a desk and are hardly usable while traveling. As for the stick, Honeycomb relies on the long-lasting Hall effect technology. The rudder controls on the bottom also utilize Hall effect sensors.

The Echo Aviation Controller is compatible with Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 and 2024), Laminar Research's X-Plane 11 and 12 and Prepar3D from Lockheed Martin. Additionally, Honeycomb already offers six downloadable profiles, though these are only intended for Flight Simulator 2024. Configuration is quite time-consuming in Microsoft's flight simulator. Profiles are available for single, twin, and four engine aircraft, as well as a general profile and one profile each for the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320 Neo.

The controller can only be used on PCs and Macs, but a console version is expected to follow later on and will probably be announced in 2026. At this point, it’s unclear which consoles will be supported, as Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2024 has recently launched on PlayStation 5.