Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick X Airbus Edition, Ergonomic
Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick X Airbus Edition, Ergonomic Replica of The Airbus Sidestick, Officially Licensed for Xbox Series X|S & Windows
| Dimensions: | 26.5 x 22.5 x 21.5 cm; 1.11 Kilograms |
| Model: | 4460219 |
| Dimensions: | 26.5 x 22.5 x 21.5 cm; 1.11 Kilograms |
| Origin: | China |
works great way better than i thought and thought it would be too light and would move around on my desk but it doesn’
For the last 20 years, I was using a MS sidewinder joystick that I originally bought for FS2002. It had served me well and still worked perfectly to this day. Almost certain that it was probably the source of some strange CTD issues, (well, because it’s old!), I decided to upgrade to this. Wow, what a world of difference. It’s also HUGE, weighty and quality made. Control of the aircraft feels realistic. I just want to hand fly all the time in jets now as it’s such a pleasure to use. Installation was a piece of cake, plug in and go, changing the switches around to suit your preference, for this you’ll need a small screwdriver but it’s easy enough to do. Love it.
I use this product for a flight simulator and fits the bill nicely
Only two major issues.
1) Buttons I wish were raised and slightly smaller, a bit of a hit-and-miss.
Control stick buttons could have used better micro switches.
2) Bring back force feedback. which I miss, used to own an MS Sidewinder.
Okay, only one issue.
Anyhooo the FlightStick I would say it`s better than some 400 Hotas sticks when it comes to precise movements.
Speaking of Hotas,
I use a Throttle controller with this stick from the Hotas setup,
also might use a Throttle Quadrant from brand X which connects VIA USB.
Would I buy it again, It’s hard to tell, but it does its job and you can’t complain from a price point.
if the stick was 100 it would have been sent back.
Bought for DCS and works great. Need to use modifiers to bind everything and separate throttle essential but stick feels great. No complaints.
I bought this having looked at all the options in the price range and decided on this because of the Airbus branding. Don’t be put off by it thinking it’s style over substance, it isn’t and the product met my expectations 100%
Pros:
-Buttons feel quality
-Moving the stick is smooth and feels good with excellent return to centre system
-Set up was easy with windows recognising it and programing controls was easy (I use FSX)
-Although plastic it is of sturdy quality
Cons-
-Throttle is a nice feature but small and hard to use
So I replaced this with this Thrustmaster Flight Stick which has 16 or 17 configurable buttons and can be set for LH use.
The Thrustmaster was immediately recognised by MSFS2020, and basic configurations were preset. The actual joystick has a very smooth precise action, which made flying the sim’s planes easier.
In a previous review a customer complained of the poor detente on the throttle slider (activation for button 17). I too had this problem. I solved it by removing the unit’s baseplate and slightly loosening the screws securing the throttle slider. There is now a clear, positive detente on the slider, but, of course, opening the the unit invalidates any warranty, so this is a risk.
Game recognised it straight away, buttons a bit awkward , good product for price
This stick is really comfortable, very accurate. I love the ability to change hand orientation.
A couple of things I would change; the throttle control is clearly an afterthought, no ability to reverse thrust. And the base could be a little heavier as achieving full deflection causes the stick to lift off the desk. Both these issues have solutions. Buy the throttle quadrant and screw the stick down via the threaded holes on the base. All in all, for the price, 100% recommend.
The only small downside as others have said is that the throttle slider came installed upside down on my unit, it was sticking out below the front of the unit at minimum throttle. Also the detent arm for reverse was not even touching the cut-outs intended for it so it had no feel at all. I fixed both these issues myself with little effort.
You can lift off the black plastic throttle button by carefully and slowly rocking it up and down as you lift. Then remove the screw holding the plastic detent arm and lift it off. Cut a couple of thin strips of electrical tape and place directly underneath where the arm sits, as close to the screw as possible. Replace the arm, press it down on the tape and tighten the screw. The arm ends should now sit about 2mm higher than before. Add another layer of tape if needed.
There is a very good guide on Reddit to do this, just google “Detent Fix for Thrustmaster Airbus Stick”.
I’m not going to knock off a star for this problem even though this should have been done correctly at the factory as it was a very easy fix and I otherwise love this joystick. Hope the above is helpful to someone.
It has a nice, solid feel to it. Really impressed, especially for the price. The throttle is not the best design, but I have a separate throttle so not worried.
This is a nice flight stick with a lovely feel to the movement. The interchangable buttons are handy, as its always nice to have a few spares in case of issues. However the plastics used are “tacky & low quality” for the base cover. Feels like a 10 childs toy level of quality. The stick itself has better quality but the trigger button is also cheap feeling and a bit loose, so expect it to break if you use it vigrously. The adverstised “reverse thruster” is useless, as its too fiddly to use due to no detenting for the zero throttle point. The base plate buttons are also cheap and tacky with a loose finish. The tacticle response is terrible, as the clickplate underneath is not lined up properly resulting in failed presses due to buttons clashing and sticking in the housing.
What is good is that its cheaper than the normal “un branded” version for some unknown reason and its a nice slate blue colour. Honestly expected better quality as this price point, as its a replacement for a 10 year old Logitech Extreme 3d Pro. Was going to buy another 3d Pro and changed my mind for this one as the logitech 3d Pro was out of stock at the time. This is more precise and smoother to use but the logitech does still feel more robust than this TCA sidestick.
So TLDR = Should be priced cheaper / decent enough quality overall / 4 out 5 – good but not great
Personal note; If you are on a budget, just get a logitech 3d pro instead of this. You can get it for almost 1/2 the price and it even if it wont last as long, or be as precise, it’s still a good stick for its price range. If you are not on a budget, skip this completely and go for a real stick from a professional sim vendor.
Can’t really recommend this tbh.
What can I say. This baby is all I can want and more. Love is a joystick. Quality build. Works well with Microsoft flight simulator 2020. Will eventually cost me much more as I add on more pieces but what they hey, that’s the price I’m willing to pay.
Just wanted to add that the first one sent seemed to be lost in shipment and when I contacted the company they immediately sent me a replacement no questions asked at no additional charge. And this is not an inexpensive item. Later on, when the first one showed up I contacted them and they sent me a prepaid label and I returned it. No hassles at all no bullxxxx about paying for a new one in advance. To me this is the mark of a quality company that cares about their customers.
Reasonable build quality, was expecting better for the money but suppose it does the job. Using with MS Flight Simulator, plug and play, good response and twist rudder is handy, throttle axis range is super small and so sensitive to any movement. Would buy the separate throttle quadrant but it is daftly expensive for what it is.
Great improvement over my last joystick with very smooth input, great for flying sims. Msfs2020 recognises it straight away even mapping out the controls for you. The ability to change buttons on the top making it easy for right handed and left handed people alike to use this joystick. Also plenty of choice with add ons that work well with this product. All in all well worth the money.
— Installation on Windows 10 —
Install the drivers as it makes switching between mode1/2throttle easier.
Don’t install the SMART software unless you really need it.
— Pitch/roll/yaw axis —
Much better than the potentiometer models
There is plenty of travel in all directions
Yaw can be locked if you have pedals
— Buttons —
Loads of buttons and all work well although you sometimes need to be very positive and press in the centre of the buttons located on the base.
— Left / Right handed switching —
This is easy to switch. Personally I prefer right handed mode.
A small screwdriver is needed to swap the buttons. Remember to switch the button underneath the base to left or right
— Throttle —
Where do I start. Thrustmaster have tried to make this “clever” and failed miserably. There are 2 modes. Mode1 is a standard throttle so the bottom stop is idle and the top stop is full throttle. Mode2 is designed for aircraft with reversers and moves the idle position about 5mm forward of the bottom stop as well as adding an additional button to the bottom position. The idea is that you map “toggle reversers” to this extra button. So you reduce the throttle to idle passing over the threshold, then move the slider to the bottom on touchdown to trigger the reversers, then slide all the way forward for full throttle reverse……then to idle, then to the bottom to turn off the reversers….then back to idle. This seems like such a great idea but it’s actually rubbish for one simple reason. Thrustmaster didn’t engineer the physical idle detent point correctly so you can’t actually feel the stop point. You can see in the picture the recess for the detent, and also the piece of plastic which is supposed to provide resistance at the idle point. It just doesn’t work as it needs to be sprung. What ends up happening is you’re constantly trying to work out if you’re are at idle, or if you’ve set the reversers off. I went back to mode1 and assigned the reversers to a button and have no issues. The throttle range and sensitivity in mode1 is excellent.
In summary, a great controller with a terrible (mode2) throttle implementation.
Smart looking joystick. Works a treat on the pc.
Pros…
Smooth movement.
Plenty of axis and buttons.
Cons…
The front trigger button is flimsy.
The throttle is odd, the travel goes past the joystick body.
The buttons are not numbered, so it is very difficult to know which one to press.
This is a very nice stick. Used with MS Flight Sim ( no set up required ) and Star Wars knights of the republic ( in game set up a must ). Very responsive and doesn’t feel like it is going to break when thrown from side to side. Lovely yaw control that can be used while banking ( if you have enough air speed ).
I wish the buttons were numbered as they are confusing especially when setting up for a non- flight sim application. My son didn’t like the throttle position, but don’t blame Thrust master, that is Airbuss’s layout and I am fine with it.
Bit pricey,but all joysticks are in short supply and it was money well spent.
use it as a second stick for Star citizen , its firm responsive and most importantly left hand capable as i fly mouse and stick
good amount of buttons and easy to set up..
probably wouldnt use it as primary stick though , but does very well for my needs and affordable
I am really glad that I bought the Thrustmaster Airbus sidestick.
Straight out of the box, it was easy to set up and has proved very reliable. It feels right right and it makes flying the aircraft accurate and easy.
I would recommend this side stick to anybody.
Didn’t want to upgrade my old logitech joystick as it had been reliable forr year’s.
Then the twist action Died……
Decided to go for the thrustmaster but unsure how it would perform.
It has exceeded all my expectations and feel’s good, responds well and is very accurate.
Others mention the slider accelerator is not very responsive, I found it spot on, easy to control the acceleration.
Wish I had one sooner.
MS Flight Simulator 2020 recognises this joystick and supports its many buttons “out of the box”. Customisation is also possible, but is not required to get started. The joystick itself seems well made and operates very smoothly offering good progressive control. This is a great improvement over trying to use an Xbox game controller.
Its very well made heavy too hold needs a little setting up over all nice purchase and looking at adding too the set up with the se
Very smooth but the tiny little built on throttle is complete trash. It wobbles from side to side and the reverse detent is practically indiscernible. Everything about this stick is quality apart from the rubbish throttle.
Generally, the joystick works well, but the usb plug is of poor quality, and sometimes disconnects. The controls were designed to control an airliner, of course, and are therefore less than ideally arranged for a computer game.
Excellent value for money! I had seen lots of positive reviews on this amazing product, and I can confirm all good points made by thousands of other flight Sim enthusiasts. Great, great product, I literally love it!
I’ve been using this for a few days now for flight sim 2020. I like the quality of the plastic and it looks quite nice. It does the job well. A bit more than the average joystick price I guess but I just bought it because the others were out of stock. I am happy with the purchase.
This joystick does exactly as it says on the box. It has smart aesthetics owing to the airbus it is modelled from and has amazing build quality, I could hope for a more pronounced and stiffer throttle slider and the detents for reverse thrust are easily gone unnoticed. Better than many other joysticks I have owned for a similar price.
So, when I saw this Thrustmaster TCA joystick was finally back in stock, at a sensible price, I snapped it up straight away.
It’s simple plug-and-play and MS FS2020 detected it and mapped the controls immediately.
There are 16 programmable buttons, which is sufficient for the majority of commonly used FS 2020 controls.
The mapped default controls all feel very intuitive and the default degree of sensitivity for the main flight controls and throttle is spot-on and shouldn’t require any tweaking.
The difference between my old joystick and this was remarkable!
Had the Warthog HOTAS been in stock, I would probably have bought that instead. Despite this being of plastic construction, it feels fairly robust and has certainly met my expectations. At a 6th of the price of the Warthog, it has saved me a fair chunk of money too.
Excellent product that I can recommend most highly.