Honeycomb Echo Aviation Controller

Written by Sean Cahill on 3/22/2026 for PC   XSX  

In the year of gaming 2026, flight sims are on the rise but are still a somewhat niche audience, especially when getting to games such as DCS World or Microsoft Flight Simulator. The biggest issue with getting into this genre of games is hardware: New players may feel intimidated by how many controls there are to use and what kind of hardware to pick up to ensure a great experience. Sadly, HOTAS setups are all over the place when it comes to difficulty to master and price point. The people at Honeycomb Aeronautical understand this and have come up with a solution: The Echo Aviation Controller, an all-in-one package that works…but only in some entries of the genre.

HOTAS? We don’t need no stinking HOTAS

Okay, full disclosure: I own not one, but two full HOTAS setups. The simpler of the two setups is the Turtle Beach VelocityOne Flight Universal and the other is the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS. The first is the general one I use for Microsoft Flight Simulator while the Warthog tends to be for more combat-focused games like Elite Dangerous. It’s also harder to set up in comparison to the VelocityOne, but neither are just plug and play: You have to spend some time using it and getting used to the control scheme. This is the crux of the problem for any new player: That’s a lot to take in just to play a flight simulator. It’s also how you lose out to growing your player base to simpler flight sims such as the Ace Combat series (which I will love forever and ever.)

The Echo Aviation Controller is meant to bridge the gap. This is a cockpit in a controller, basically. To anyone who has never played a flight sim in their life, this will be the most bizarre-looking controller you’ll ever see. However, veterans of the genre will understand it immediately. The four sliders on the right hand side can be used for throttle, flaps and speed brakes, all of which can be tweaked or changed via downloadable profiles available on the Honeycomb website, which we’ll cover later. The main joystick is comfortable, and it’s hall effect, so accuracy is everything. There’s a POV joystick on the far left that allows a player to look around in their cockpit quickly, especially important to get those photogenic views in Microsoft Flight Simulator. The real genius to this are the extra buttons: The toggles at the bottom for speed brake, landing gear, and flaps are so nice to have. On the back side there’s a rudder control that move opposite of each other. I have foot controls that I use, but sometimes they just don’t work. With this? I don’t need them, and it’s quite precise.

Save time with profiles, because no one wants to spend time programming

I mentioned it before that the biggest pain with HOTAS sticks is programming the buttons and getting used to them. This is especially true with my Warthog HOTAS. Don’t get me wrong: I love it, but I was using it in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and I lost my profile due to a corruption error. It took an hour to get it back to the way I wanted it. This isn’t a problem with MSFS 2024 thanks to quality of life changes they made and cloud storage, but there is still that initial setup.

Honeycomb made this easy for the MSFS crowd: Profiles are available online to download and load up. You’ll take just a few minutes to glance at the controls and make sure you know what is what, but the time spent here is minimal. Currently, you’ll find the following profiles:

• General Control for MSFS 2024
• Specific controls for MSFS 2024 Boeing 737 Max
• Airplane controls for MSFS 2024 Four engines (Hello, 747!)
• Specific controls for MSFS 2024 Twin Engines - Boeing 737 Max
• Airplane controls for MSFS 2024 Twin engines - Airbus A320 Neo V2
• Airplane controls for MSFS 2024 Single engine

There’s no word if more will become available, but honestly? I’m not sure anymore are needed. Between these six controls, I have enough to cover just about every configuration there is. Only exception was the profile for the F-18 that worked best was, funny enough, the A320. Maybe my general control profile just didn’t lock on correctly, but either way, it worked and I was able to fly anything I wanted.

You’ll notice that all of these profiles are for MSFS 2024. I’m not sure this controller really translates over to DCS World, and maybe Honeycomb realized that. DCS really is meant for a HOTAS setup and those who use controllers seem to get by pretty fine with an Xbox-style controller because of stick layout. With the joysticks all on the left side, I think DCS fans can stick with what they’re using now.

Surprisingly simple to use, even if it’s a little weird at first

I’ve tried out some strange controllers in my gaming life. This one isn’t the weirdest, to be fair (Shoutout to the NES U-Force that somehow worked for Top Gun), but it’s up there. That being said, it’s extremely comfortable to hold. Honeycomb seemed to put a big focus on comfort. While this feels a little bigger than other controllers because it’s thick, it’s not that much larger than the 8bitdo controller I use for my PC.

There is a slight learning curve because there’s a lot going on, and it was forcing myself to reset my mind in how a controller functions without having ABXY buttons to hit. After a couple of flights with some hilariously bad decisions by me in remembering what lever did what, it became a pretty smooth experience. The weirdness of the controller was gone after a couple of days and it became second nature. Admittedly, it felt weird not using the HOTAS or VelocityOne, and a part of me missed using them, but did it hinder my experience? Not at all, and that’s the important part.

The controller has 15 hours of use before you have to charge it, and charge time to full was quick thanks to the quick charge cable provided by Honeycomb. The levers themselves feel great and do not have a cheap feel to them. The controller feels sturdy but isn’t heavy despite it being larger than most standard controllers. I also had an entire section that was going to be dedicated to not having reverse controllers or not being clear on how to do that, but I missed that the levers have resistance to prevent you from pulling down all the way into reverse. The size of the levers block the red brackets that show where the reverse is, so after figuring that out? My number of complaints dropped by one.

So what are my complaints? Well...

First, let’s get right to it: This is only for PC and Mac. It’s a bit confounding to me that the group of people who would benefit from this most, which are console gamers, are left out in the cold. I get it that drivers are hard and compatibility is tough to work out, but this controller screams out to be not just a solution for those playing MSFS 2024 on Xbox, but the solution. In a world where elite controllers push $200 dollars, if you have a dedicated group that are begging for a better experience on console why would you not try to get this to them? Honeycomb needs to work on making this for console, because it solves so many issues.

The second one is a bit funny: For the life of me, controlling a helicopter with this controller was like trying to drive a toaster through a car wash. It might be a skill issue, but it was painful trying to do anything with a helicopter with the Echo. Controls seemed to be different than what was programmed, and it certainly doesn’t help that there isn’t a profile and I was using the general controls. I thought that would be enough, but the number of helicopters I crashed into the ground with this thing is numerous.

The final complaint is that it is hard focused for casual flyers and not combat. It’s understandable with the design that it was one or the other and there wasn’t a great way to make both work. While I don’t have exact numbers of the player base, I think it’s a safe assumption that the player base of MSFS 2024 is larger than a DCS World, and fans of the Ace Combat series have never had an issue using a regular controller for as long as it’s existed so they aren’t roped into this. Simply put, if you’re someone who only plays MSFS 2024, then you’ve hit the jackpot here. Anyone else? You’re probably sticking with your HOTAS or standard controller.

Let’s talk cost. How much and is it really worth it?

The Honeycomb Echo Aviation Controller checks in with an MSRP of $149.99 at the time of writing, and you can find it basically anywhere online, including directly from Honeycomb.

If you don’t have the money for a good HOTAS setup and are tired of using an Xbox controller? Then this is worth every last penny if you play MSFS 2024 a lot. I feel as though purchasing this controller with those two factors in play results in taking someone from a standard player to a fanatic because it makes the experience that much better.

Wrapping it up, the bottom line is simple: Great controller, but with a clear target

I love this controller. Of all the gimmick controllers that have been released over the years, I think Honeycomb hit a home run. You have to look past the limitations of what group this controller is targeting. I’m still confused as to why they didn’t target console players with this because it’s screaming for this, but outside of that? Excellent.

Ultimately, I’m still going to use this controller for a while. It’s easy to set up and I haven’t missed my HOTAS. That will probably change because I do love my HOTAS setups, but for now? You’ve got a fan for a long time, Honeycomb.