{"id":27797,"date":"2024-02-11T01:52:26","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T01:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=27797"},"modified":"2024-02-11T01:52:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-11T01:52:28","slug":"my-first-flights-with-the-thrustmaster-tca-sidestick-airbus-edition-flight-stick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/front-page-slider\/my-first-flights-with-the-thrustmaster-tca-sidestick-airbus-edition-flight-stick\/%20","title":{"rendered":"My First Flights with the Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick Airbus Edition Flight Stick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been playing aviation themed games and flight\nsimulators since the 90s. Yet, rarely during that time have I spent it playing\nwith a flight stick. Having been more of a console player during the late 90\u2019s\nand 2000s meant primarily playing with a controller even though there were\noptions available for flight sticks on video game consoles. Still, I only ever\nrecall playing a game in the late 90s on PC called F-22 Lightning II by\nNovaLogic and using a PC based flight stick for that experience. Of course, I\nrecall having a great time being able to fly the latest fighter jet designed\nfor air superiority, the wonderful and amazing F-22, while using what was\nprobably the first flight stick I ever owned. I poured so many hours into that\ngame!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, the question I ask myself is why didn\u2019t that experience\nlead me to continue upgrading to newer flight sticks with all the latest flight\ngames that have been released over the years? I\u2019ll never know, really. However,\nI did eventually get my hands on a couple more flight sticks in the early 2010s\n– over 15 years later. I got the Pacific AV8R that came along with Damage Inc.\non Xbox 360 and the X-55 HOTAS which I primarily used for War Thunder. Both of\nthose flight sticks were fantastic as well and played wonderfully well with\nboth games, but neither game kept me coming back for more which is why both\nflight sticks got retired to a shelf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now fast forward to 2020 and the release of Microsoft\nFlight Simulator. Obviously, with my love and passion for aviation, I\nimmediately picked it up and started exploring the new world – all by\ncontroller. Now, I had a blast over the past 3+ years playing Microsoft Flight\nSimulator by controller. It actually works very well. However!! I\u2019m now\nlearning – or being reminded of \u2013 just how accurate and overall enjoyable it is\nto fly with an actual flight stick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick & TCA Quadrant + Add-on Airbus Edition<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With my passion for the world of aviation simulators and\naviation inspired video games, it\u2019s time I started taking flight sticks a lot\nmore seriously again. As I mentioned above, the precision and accuracy you can\nachieve from a flight stick is superior to that of a controller and I pretty\nmuch instantly found that out again during my first few flights with the\nThrustmaster TCA Sidestick \u2013 Airbus Edition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just recently got my hands on the Thrustmaster TCA\nSidestick \u2013 Airbus Edition as my first flight stick that I\u2019ve paired with\nMicrosoft Flight Simulator. I also acquired the TCA Quadrant Airbus Edition and\nadd-on to go along with the flight stick. The TCA Quadrant Airbus Edition with\nadd-on features the throttle, flaps, airbrakes, engine controls, parking brake,\ntrim, gear up\/down, and more. So, I\u2019m all set for a great flight experience!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment I had the Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick and TCA\nQuadrant + Add-ons set up, I immediately started to giggle just a little bit as\nI excitedly anticipated my first flight with this setup. The greyish\/blue theme\nwith black controls, along with the Airbus branding, simply looks sharp on both\nthe stick and controls. Plus, the quality of the parts feels good to operate\nand stable to use in a desktop environment. Also, just to note, this setup can\nbe used for both PC or Xbox Series S\/X. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other nice feature with the TCA Quadrant is that if you decide to pick up the add-on piece that contains the flaps, airbrakes, gear, etc. is that it\u2019s easy to attach to the core throttle piece making the setup incredibly user-friendly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I had everything set up and ready to go, I first decided I should just jump into some of the landing challenges with the Airbus A320 just to quickly get a feel for the flying. It honestly didn\u2019t go so well at first and I scored pretty poorly over my first number of landing attempts. But as I kept restarting I would continue to improve as I got a better feel for the overall controls. I actually really appreciated having dedicated controls for the flaps and airbrakes too rather than just down on the d-pad with a controller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After doing multiple landing challenges I figured it was time for a quick take off and landing. It was time for the full experience! This is when the best feeling sets in when flying with a flight stick and controls. Sitting at the start of the runway, ready for takeoff, and then pushing the actual throttle forward to get moving \u2013 it\u2019s the best! No more boring A button on a controller to up the power, it\u2019s all throttle forward on the Thrustmaster TCA Quadrant and ready for playing in the skies above! Let’s goooo! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did a very quick takeoff and landing which you can see below purely to keep the video short. But I will soon have a lot more videos with full flights on my YouTube channel. This is also the first time I just floated above the runway which was a different experience. I think with a controller I was more of a Navy type of pilot…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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