Posted December 31, 1969 by Scott Parrino

A flight control system for those who want to immerse themselves into a flight simulator, the X52 offers many functions that some joysticks can only dream of.

Flight is something of a passion of mine that I have reveled in since watching classic movies like Midway and Top Gun. Of course, it will be a long time until I even get into a fully functioning cockpit of a plane and fly it, but for the time being I dig my nose into flight simulators.

Usually for flight simulators you need a keyboard and at least a joystick (there are those who fly with a standard mouse but with flight simulators nowadays they require a joystick) and an idea on how to fly. Now you can go out there and purchase a regular joystick for basic movement, but if you really want to get into the feeling of flying a plane or a fighter jet or even a 747, I recommend getting a HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) setup. In short this means your left hand rests on a throttle and your right hand is on the joystick. They are linked by a cable and just like any other joystick, send information to your computer via USB.

A lot of HOTAS setups can run quite a pretty penny nowadays, but Saitek has offered HOTAS setups for just over $100 in the past and up to today. Their latest line is the X52 Flight Control System, the advancement over the X45 and in comparison it is a welcome upgrade.

To begin with is one of the first things someone would notice about the X52; it is cool looking, has bright blue lights on its buttons, and has a nice screen on the throttle base that shows current modes, the profile of the stick (more on this later), the time, date, and a stopwatch function. All of this is wrapped about with black and silver casing and some metal parts for durability. Now that it has your attention, you finally take notice of its ergonomic design and how sturdy it feels. This is obviously a very serious piece of hardware.

So it looks flashy, so what right? A lot of flight simulator players need functionality and more importantly, buttons for commands such as radar, flaps, brakes, machine guns, the whole 9 yards. The X52 not only has a number of buttons and switches (34 buttons to be exact, along with rotary controls, a pinkie shift button, a mouse controller and left click function along with scroll wheel and a slider), but also multiply those buttons times 3 with the mode switch to give you over 100 functions on the fly. You are probably thinking to yourself, ?Scott, how do you think I?m going to use all those buttons?? Well if you have played flight simulators before, you can fill up all those functions and still need more buttons afterwards. The X52 means business and doesn?t want to leave its users in the wind, especially if there are going to have two hands occupied, they can?t be switching between flying and then looking for buttons on the keyboard.

Now you?re looking at the MFD (Multi-Function Display) and wondering what good that screen will do. It can do a lot of good if you use Saitek?s Smart Technology software (SST) and not a lot if you don?t. This is where it shows if you are a serious pilot or not. Saitek has bundled with the X52 the SST software so that you can assign commands to the buttons and switches that would usually be on the keyboard. These commands can range from flaps, aileron trim, and radio control, basically what your standard joystick can?t do. Using the SST software can be daunting at first as you think that you will have to remember which button does what. This is where the MFD comes in. Every time you press a button it shows its command on the MFD. If you are worried of pressing the wrong button during gameplay, you can hold down the nifty ?clutch? button on the throttle and press the button you are confused with and the MFD will show you what it is without worrying about the actual action taking place. If you also don?t like the brightness of the MFD or even the buttons, you can change it in the options. There are only three settings (no dimmer), which go from bright, to not as bright, and off. While they?re not blindingly bright at its highest setting, if you want to keep it plain looking you can. I personally love the look of the bright blue lighting in my pitch-dark room.



The SST software as I said before can be daunting piece of software to face. However once you start using it more and more it becomes second nature. Or if you are feeling lazy you can easily download any profiles for games from Saitek?s site or from any you find on the internet, just make sure it is for the right joystick (i.e., don?t download a Cyborg Evo?s profile). What is also great about the software is that it cannot only assign keyboard buttons, but also combinations of keystrokes, which are especially helpful in games that require a combination keystroke, multiple presses. An example for this would be in Aces High 2 where you need to hit enter three times to bail out of your airplane. Rather than pressing it on your keyboard three times, you can assign the three button hits to your profile on a button and viola! As for switching modes on the fly, on the joystick there is a handy knob with three settings on it that you can switch handily with your thumb. The light next to it changes color with each switch and the MFD keeps track of it. With the SST software you can have multiple profiles for any number of games you own.

Now lets move on to the joystick of the X52. One look at it and you?d think this thing by itself could handle a flight simulator. Arrayed with two 8-way hats, a mode knob, a pinkie shift switch, three switches (6 functions since you can switch them up and down), four fire buttons with one under a spring loaded ?SAFE? cover, a two-stage trigger and to finish it off, the stick itself has a twist rudder action with a lock button on it. The feeling of holding the stick is quite comfortable and the spring for movement isn?t too hard or too light. This model went with a non-contact system of contact for the X and Y axes in order to reduce free play and increase durability. On the base of the stick are the three spring-loaded toggle switches, which are convenient for functions that aren?t important during combat or important maneuvers like displaying a map, changing radio stations, gear, etc. They are very well placed and have never accidentally bumped them during flight. The twist rudder is a mixed bag for myself. For combat flight simulators (like IL2 or Aces High 2) doing some maneuvers can cause you to twist the stick inadvertently and that can cause unwanted movement or even a stall. For civilian flight simulations, which aren?t into dogfighting and wild maneuvers, can benefit from this placement of the rudder. The previous model, the X45 had the rudder on rockers on the throttle, which were somewhat of a pain to operate and had a cramped position. It was especially tough while operating the throttle or having it at full-throttle, forcing you to stretch your hand out extra to operate the rocker. If you have smaller hands don?t fret, the X52 has 5 different settings to adjust the height of the hand rest so that you don?t have worry about stretching your thumb out to reach the top buttons from the rested position. This is one of the better improvements made from the X45 to the X52 and especially for myself, a welcomed addition. The pinkie shift buttons (which is where your pinky is, duh!) is a nice place because it can be used in a variety of ways. It is much like a shift function, adding more commands to your buttons or by itself for an extra button. The final part on the joystick that is one of my personal favorites is the two-stage trigger. Many combat flight simulators (mainly WWII) have planes with more than one gun. Utilizing the two-stage trigger, you can fire your main guns with the first pull, and then when you want to add the hurt, pull it more. Don?t worry about the amount of travel on the trigger; you can go about half an inch or more before hitting the second and sturdy click. This is great for planes with machine guns and cannons so you can easily fire them both without pressing another button on the stick.



The throttle of the X52 looks and feels comfortable. Now set on the inside of base (the X45 had the throttle arm connected to the side) the throttle feels sturdy and on the rounded base of it displays the amount of thrust you are applying. With your thumb alone you can operate the four buttons, two rotary controls, the mouse controller, and the slider. Your index finger can easily operate the hat switch while your middle finger rests comfortably on the scroll wheel. Unfortunately there are some issues with the throttle. First off are the rotary controls. These can be used for trim or whatever function you?d like, but they are very stiff to move with your thumb and the indents for when they are in neutral are hard to feel. While the rubber grips for the rotary are a nice touch, they are too spaced out to give perfect control and add to the frustration of rotary control. The slider bar on the throttle is a welcome addition as it can easily control propeller pitch for engine management or fuel mixture (I think about half of you went ?huh??). The mouse control is great for those who want to emulate the mouse-look on virtual cockpits or manipulate in-game maps or controls. No longer do you have to take your hand off the joystick and move the mouse. The left mouse click is featured a little to close for my liking as sometimes your thumb may click it, but you learn to get better at it. The handy clutch button is here on the throttle, which allows you to check which button does what (when you are using the SST software) so that you don?t accidentally drop your fuel tank on a village when you meant to just lower your gear. If the throttle itself feels too stiff to move, there is a handy knob on the side that can adjust stiffness. No more screwdrivers needed!



On the base of the throttle are the MFD and three buttons. The three buttons include the function, start/stop and Down function, and the last is the reset and Up button. The obvious function button switches between a stopwatch and the time, so that you can see how long you were flying for or how quick you can do a task. The other two buttons change the time zone/area for the time as well as start/stop the stopwatch and reset the time. Although it is a nice set of buttons and function for the MFD, the time and stopwatch function is somewhat useless along with its buttons. The MFD overall though is a great addition as you no longer have to look on your computer or on a piece of paper for which function does what or wonder which mode or profile you are using.

So what is the X52 like overall? It does have its pros and cons but I think with the awesome new look of the X52 and its improvements over the X45 make it a worthy purchase. At $130 for a X52 may seem like a high price for newcomers but compared to CH and Cougar HOTAS products, which range nearly triple the price, Saitek?s model gives the players that want to get immersed in their simulators an affordable HOTAS setup that is not only durable, but easy to use and looks great on any desk.

If you are interested in picking up a X52 for yourself or any other of their joysticks, head over to their site here.