Saitek PZ55 Pro Flight Switch Panel

5 comments

1. 

   Smork68 on January 13, 2010 at 2:10 pm

   I am a Flight Simulator Fanatic! This is worth every penny if you have the rest of the set. IE.. Yoke and Pedals and Throttles. It requires very little set up and is a very inexpensive. Saitek rocks. I hope this helps!

2. 

   Kevin J. Kiff on January 13, 2010 at 4:40 pm

   I bought this switch panel for FSX. I’m running Win7/64 Home Premium. Installation is painless, and mounting not a problem with a little silicone glue. That said, that’s about all that’s good I can say about it.

   The landing gear lever works fine, but unfortunately when you use it to raise the gear it also shuts off the engines — not a good situation.

   All the switches work as-advertised and flawlessly. The engine start knob, though, is a different story. When I tried it to start an engine, it spun my plane around in circles on the tarmac and crashed it (honest, I’m not kidding!).

   I got no help in the Saitek official forums. Best guesses there were that my panel was faulty, and that I should swap it. I might. I could find no updated drivers for this unit.

   Bottom line for me is this: If you’re considering buying this unit (and it’s expensive!) for FSX, and you’re running Win7/64, buyer beware; it may not work as-advertised!

3. 

   Lester J. Tinnin on January 13, 2010 at 6:17 pm

   Product is very well made and works exactly as expected. Installation was a snap and I would purchase any other products made by this company.

4. 

   T. Norris on January 13, 2010 at 9:16 pm

   I won’t re-hash all of the previous comments but merely add my experiences that I haven’t seen posted yet.

   First, the good points (from a real-world pilot):

   Unit functions as described. I used the included screws to mount it solidly on top of my Saitek radio panel.

   I am building a center console for my simpit and the option to de-mount the unit from it’s plastic enclosure is a big plus. This will allow me to mount it in the center console with no problems.

   The landing gear lights sequence CORRECTLY when the gear is coming down. For instance, if the right main gear goes down and locks before the others, then that gear light will correctly turn green while the others are still in-transit. Very nice touch since Saitek could have simply went with “all up” or “all down”. I had a left main gear failure on an EMB-120 and this unit correctly showed that gear to be stuck in-transit so it really added to the experience.

   Although there is only one “start” position on the knob to the far left, I can still start my jet (B757) correctly by sequencing the air valves, using the START knob and starting that engine, return the knob to run once started, then do the same with the other engine. Not quite as realistic as the Real Thing but this should work great in a single-engine aircraft (for which it was intended).

   As far as general-aviation aircraft go (such as the C-172), you can properly perform a runup by starting the engine, setting the parking brake, running up to 1800 RPM and sequence the left and right magnetos. I checked the accuracy of the unit by “failing” the left magneto in the C-172 and during the engine runup, selecting the Left mag. The engine (correctly) wanted to die at that point so the knob functions as in the real aircraft.

   Now the bad (or not so good):

   The leftmost knob is not spring-loaded to return from the start position to RUN when released (like in a real aircraft). Not a big deal but, depending on the fidelity of your sim, could overheat a starter if left in the Run position by accident.

   The on/off rocker switches are very loud. Flip one and you are rewarded with a resounding CLACK! It will definitely let you know that you activated that switch but might not be good for the late-night flier with sleeping kin close by. I put a piece of 1″ thick foam in the ample space in the back of the unit and it helps quite it somewhat. The switches DO take some effort to flip which will make the unit wobble unless securely mounted.

   The plastic on the provided enclosure is quite a bit thinner than the panel itself. Not a big deal but makes it feel “cheap” when compared to the panel of the unit, which is a heavy plastic (good).

   Since I fly at night a lot, the switch positions can be very hard to see unless you have a light nearby. I wish there were LED indicators (off/green) above the switches themselves which would certainly help in seeing them. In addition, backlighting the lettering would be a definite plus since it would then be easy to make out the switch functions. To my knowledge, none of the Saitek panels are backlit.

   Probably the biggest downside (in my opinion) is the proprietary nature of the unit and the inability to reassign/relabel switch functions to something other than what they are assigned at the factory. For instance, I never use the Cowl Flaps switch and it would be nice to use it for something else. It would have been easy for Saitek to make this unit be seen as a standard Windows HID device with all the re-assignment (and compatibility) benefits that that would offer but alas, it was not to be. You cannot use the unit with anything other than Flight Simulator unless someone offers a software go-between to read it’s state and re-assign it to something else (Falcon 4.0 for instance).

   In conclusion:

   This unit will not “add” any functionality beyond what you can do with simple keystrokes but WILL immerse you deeper into the flying experience since you’ll have switch clicks and lights when your on that scary, low-visibility night approach. As a plus, if you fly many aircraft, a quick glance will tell you whether the gear is down or not as opposed to hunting for the gear indication on an unfamiliar aircraft.

   Shutting down the anti-ice, lights, etc at the end of a flight is satisfying since your rapidly clicking everything to the OFF position and shutting the engines down. If on a group flight, this unit will give you finer (and quicker) control of your strobes, nav lights, etc so as not to blind your fellow pilots.

   Speaking of group flights, others like it when you taxi into position and hold all the while sequencing your taxi and landing lights to the correct positions.

   I’ve flown with this unit for over 3 months and, while a bit expensive for what it does, would certainly buy it again as it adds a little something extra to the flight sim experience. It’s a good thing any time I can get away from the keyboard to perform a function.

5. 

   Bman. on January 14, 2010 at 12:03 am

   The Saitek panels are a great addon to help with the immersion into the simulator. I would rank the relative “need” factor of the three current panels as 1) Multi-panel 2) Radio panel 3) This panel, the Switch panel. This doesn’t really detract from owning the panel because I look at these are all or nothing…you gotta have all three This one is just the least critical. You really ’set and forget’ for 95% of the flight.

   The only con I have really for all three Saitek panels is that they don’t always work 100% with 3rd party add-on craft. I wouldn’t expect them to, I just wish they did.

   I don’t think I can post a link here but if you want to see the panels in action – look up my channel on YouTube “FlyBman2007″. There is a video I made of my simulator components.

   Benjamin.