Fans of the flight simulator genre don’t have too much choice when it comes to joysticks – Saitek, Logitech and CH Products are about all you have. Unless you’re building your own cockpit anyway, but for most of us that’s not an option!

So if you’re looking for a relatively cheap joystick to get the most out of your flight sim of choice the Saitek Aviator (or AV8R) is a good place to start.

The Aviator is unique amongst PC joysticks in that it has two throttle controls which can be independently assigned. You also get the usual twist rudder axis and 12 programmable buttons.

Ergonomics

The joystick action is smooth and provides enough resistance to give you some idea of where you are in the motion range. Inputs don’t spike and the throttles are well damped so fine adjustments are possible.

The second throttle axis doesn’t have to be used to control engines either – I find that mapping it to elevator trim makes long flights a lot more manageable.

Programming

The Aviator is programmable via the Saitek SST software (pictured). This software essentially redirects button presses of the joystick to emulate keyboard and mouse strokes, meaning you can assign long complicated keyboard sequences (“Switch radar mode and select weapon” for example) to a single button press. You don’t need to use it if you prefer to set up your joystick via the in-game menus, but it’s nice to have the option.

The software is quite intuitive, making what can be a fairly complex task quite simple.

The large red control at the back of the stick actually switches the joystick into one of three user programmable modes – in this way each button can have three different functions, depending on the position of the switch. Typically I’d have one position for general flight and takeoff/landing and use the others for special scenarios such as combat.

Conclusion

For £20 online you can’t go far wrong, take a look at this if you like (or like the idea of) flight games.