Many were surprised to hear that Honeycomb Aeronautics was to be present at FSExpo 2024 and that they would be showing off the Honeycomb Charlie rudder pedals in person. After experiencing turmoil in early 2024, the future of the Honeycomb Charlie pedals (and the company!) has been unknown for some time. However, at FSExpo, I was able to speak to a member of the product development team who felt confident in the future of Honeycomb – while finally experiencing the product we’ve been waiting so long to see.
Hands-on with the Honeycomb Charlies
The first thing that struck me about the Honeycomb Charlie pedals was how large the unit is. The pedals themselves sit on a very wide plastic base that your feet rest on, in contrast to most high-end sim rudders that instead have “legs” or some other smaller footprint design. This will take up a significant amount of room under a desk, but it comes with two advantages.
First, its immense surface area means that it will not slide around easily. Coupled with small, reversible “barbs” on the underside of the unit, the Honeycomb Charlies are clearly designed with carpeted floors and non-permanent mounting in mind. There is also a large rubber grip surface for simmers with smooth flooring. For me, this is perfect for the way I use my home sim since I need to move my sim gear to the side to set up my desk for other games or work.
During my demo (On a carpeted floor), the Charlies were rock-solid and did not move an inch under my exaggerated movement. This may, however, come with downsides for permanent mounting, as it was unclear to me what (if any) mounting solutions were available to those with permanent home cockpits. I did not see any through holes in the base for mounting screws, although product images show what might be removable plugs for permanent mounting.
Second, the wide base also gave me an easier time moving my feet on and off the pedals. When transitioning from toe brakes to “bars” for flight, it was easier to rest my heels on the floor than on my current pedal set (Thrustmaster TFRP). I could more easily steer with “pressure” rather than “movement” since the heels of my feet remained connected to the product, rather than resting on the floor around it.
Honeycomb Charlie Realism
I am a US-licensed pilot and my reference for realism will be based on what it feels like compared to the pedals in Cessna 172s, Piper Archers, and Piper Arrows that I fly. The pedals themselves appear to be visually modeled roughly on Boeing 737-style pedals and are made of metal. The pedal spacing feels almost exactly like that of the Cessna 172, if perhaps a little wider, but was very comfortable at the demo station. The pedals have no “cup” to hold your feet in place, and very clearly defined bars for the balls of your feet to sit during normal flight.
I performed pattern work as well as a couple of short flights with the Honeycomb Charlie rudder pedals, and tested them with both tricycle and conventional (tailwheel) aircraft as well as in significant crosswind conditions. Overall, I was quite satisfied with the accuracy of the Charlies. Travel was smooth with responsiveness across the entire axis. They have no center detent, but they do return to the center, which is accurate to my real-world experience. I felt confident in applying rudder inputs with slight pressure, especially after adjusting the tension to its highest setting – the lower settings felt very weak in comparison.
There are two independent toe brake axes on the Honeycomb Charlie pedals. Like the rudder itself, these felt accurate and smooth. However, they also felt weak. In the real aircraft, there is significant resistance when braking – but these toe brakes went all the way “to the floor” with no effort. I would ground an aircraft that felt like that. While it is impossible to replicate real braking forces without force feedback, I would have liked to see significantly more resistance in the brake axis. Honeycomb personnel onsite confirmed there is no way to increase this resistance.
Honeycomb Charlie Pricing and Availability
The Honeycomb Charlie pedals have been in some variant of “coming soon” since early 2023. Despite frustrating delays, Honeycomb has now entered full production and is confident that they can deliver pre-orders beginning in August, thanks in part to their partnership with Aerosoft. When I spoke with Mark Kuepper, a Honeycomb employee responsible for the actual development of the Charlie pedals, he was confident that Honeycomb is doing the right things to make sure the Charlies will finally be released and that the company will remain in good health going forward.
Pre-orders for the Honeycomb Charlie rudder pedals are open on the Aerosoft Store for €310.92 (MSRP €369.99) as well as retailers such as Aircraft Spruce and MyPIlotStore in the USA for $349.99. Aerosoft will begin shipping pre-orders on August 29 with delivery to other retailers expected around the same time, according to Honeycomb personnel at FSExpo. This was not the only exciting product I was able to preview at FSExpo 2024, so check out our full FSExpo 2024 coverage as we bring you the latest flight sim news!
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