Honeycomb Aeronautical, a company that makes flight simulator accessories like flight sticks and paddles that can turn your desk into a cockpit, has announced a compact option for PC pilots with limited room. Its upcoming Echo Aviation controller is about the size of a console gamepad, but pushes aside standard features like a joystick and buttons to make room for flight-specific controls like a throttle lever and a dedicated trim wheel.
To the left of the main controller you’ll find a thumbstick, four action buttons, and a second conical joystick that is used to control the simulator’s camera. Meanwhile, on the right side is where all the flight specific controls are located: four throttle levers with a trim wheel that can be adjusted to maintain the aircraft’s altitude without additional input.
The bottom of the Echo Aviation controller has dedicated controls for adjusting the plane’s flaps, raising or lowering the landing gear, and activating the parking brake so you don’t have to reach for your keyboard again and again. There are also two sets of shoulder buttons on the top edge, and on the back you’ll find a pair of sliding paddles that move in opposition and act as rudders, controlling the side-to-side movement of your plane’s nose and aiding steering when navigating airports and runways.
In addition to the hard shell carrying case, the Echo Aviation Controller will come with a collection of interchangeable caps for the throttle lever and other controls so you can customize each of them by their shape or color and easily differentiate if you have re-mapped their functionality.