As announced a few weeks ago, flight simulation peripheral manufacturer Virpil just launched its Kickstarter campaign for its Advanced Flight Yoke project.
The campaign can be found on the official Kickstarter website and the goal is a relatively modest $200,000. The counter appears to be going fairly fast, with $23,320 already pledged in less than half a hour.
One of the interesting aspects of the system is its modular nature. It comes with three different yokes. The B-Jet Handle has a Boeing style, the P-Jet handle has style more similar to a business jet or an Embraer airliner, while the Vega handle is designed for space simulators with a design inspired by Sci-Fi.
The base also has optional panels for the landing gear, engine management, and lights management. It offers full 180° rotation adjustable to 90°, on top of 160mm pitch travel.
Build quality has always been one of the selling points of Virpil controllers, and this one boasts metal construction, a dual-rail pitch axis, high-quality bearings, on top of contactless digital sensors. Here’s a breakdown.
- Premium Metal Construction
- VPC Contactless Digital Sensors
- Full 180° Yoke Rotation
- 160mm Pitch Travel
- Dual Rail Pitch Axis
- Adjustable Pitch and Roll Axis Tension
- Adjustable Clutch Dampers
- AUX Port to Daisy Chain Other VPC Devices
- Mount with VPC Yoke Clamp
- Hardmount Points for Simrig Setups
The project is currently in the prototype phase and should follow the following timeline. Between November 2024 and January 2025, Virpil will gather feedback to make sure the product receives the approval of the community. Between January and March 2025, the final design phase will take place.
Production will go on between March nd May 2025, and shopping will happen between May and June.
The prices for a base and a handle of choice is $359 for the limited Early Bird pledges and $399 for those who will come later. These do not include the optional control panels.
If you want the whole set including the control panels and all three handles, the price is $759
If you’re interested in flight simulation, you’d likely enjoy reading about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which will release on November 19, 2024. We participated to a preview event and you can read our early preview with plenty interesting details for your perusal.
You can also watch our interview with Head of MSFS Jorg Neumann and Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch, another with Asobo CCO David Dedeine, and one featuring Chris Burnett of Working Title and Brandon Yaeger of Got Friends about their work on MSFS 2024.
Last, but not least, you can take a look at our A-10 flight through the Grand Canyon, our first look at the extensive pilot customization, another at the first mission of the Career Mode, a video featuring the new walk-around move showing off a Boeing 737 MAX up close and personal, and a challenge with the A-10 over the Blue Ridge Mountains.
