I just wanted to express thanks to Tom Gromko (TOM767), Ken Weir (MrKen), Rob Whitehead (OzWhitey), and Paul Deemer for the breadcrumbs of knowledge they've sprinkled throught these forums in overcoming the imprecision and excessive force required to control the Saitek Pro Yoke with any degree of precision - an obnoxious nuisance for crosswind landings and flying the sophisticated heavies (when you can, at best, only fly with one hand on the yoke) . Earlier this year, I abandoned my flight stick in favor of the Yoke/Throttle/Pedal setup from Saitek. I was really excited by this move, but as I tried to adapt to the new "feel", I found myself mowing the grass more often than not, weaving like a drunken pirate on final as I tried to make small adjustments to my flight profile (particularly distressing considering I had not crashed a plane in the sim in years by flying stick). The brutish force and excessive resistance in pitch and roll of the Saitek Yoke makes hand-flying a real dog and was really putting a damper on my sim experience. I had pulled the flight stick out of storage and blown off the dust and was a hair's breadth from just nosing the yoke into the trash can when I came across a handful of articles here which led me to salvation.

 

I followed the mod instructions from Tom and Ken and replaced all the uber-rigid tension springs with #64 bands triple-wrapped (including the spring below the yoke shaft). I applied silicone lube to all moving parts and along the length of the yoke shaft. I set stick_sensitivity_mode=0 in the fsx.cfg CONTROLS section and applied a strong exponential calibration curve in FSUIPC. And wow. Is this even the same yoke? The physical control action is now silky smooth and I am now able to precisely control any aircraft. I feel like I just added $100 in value to my equipment by following these few simple mods. If anyone has this yoke and is not satisfied with its performance, I highly recommend reading:

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/351529-finally-a-fix-for-the-saitek-pro-flight-yoke-pitch-axis/

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/348248-a-joy-to-share-on-saitek-yoke/

 

http://sehlah.com/yoke.pdf

 

Cheers,

 

Jason Barlow

Thanks Jason for the FYI. I have been planning on this for some time after reading past threads on the subject. But you saved me the time of having to search out those threads again.

 

Clutch

I'm looking for bungees similar to those used by PFC (Precision Flight Controls). A simple rubber band has a shelf life, and I don't plan on opening my Yoke up but once every two-three years for potentiometer cleaning.

 

Other wise, yes, this mod can really make for a great experience (I did it a few years ago). Thanks for posting your opinions and results.