Thrustmaster Civil Aviation (TCA) AIRBUS joystick on MAC

Clipper747pa · July 5, 2020 at 5:20 PM

Dear all,

recently I came across a brand new joystick and throttle unit edition by Thrustmaster. I have to tell you about my enthusiasm and first experiences.

BIG Disclaimer:

I am not working for or are in any way connected to the manufacturer!!!

I am not advertising this hardware nor am I recommending it.

So let's get started: What's so special about a new joystick?

Well, the units (see below) truly look like the original AIRBUS (and are officially certified by Airbus) hardware

joystick and
pedestal units with exact replications of
- throttles,
- engine start switches,
- spoiler,
- parking brake,
- gear lever and
- flaps handle
- including a vast amount of programmable buttons.

It even has a locking mechanism which lets you disable the joystick handle's rotation, if used with pedals.

The joystick is already available.

The other units, starting with the throttle unit are announced to be on the market as of late September 2020.

Thrustmaster also offers a table mounting unit for the devices.

...and from my point of view and -at least for the joystick- with a "hands on" experience, it is very good quality for a very reasonable price!

The only problem at first look on the website for us MAC users is: Thrustmaster clearly indicates, this hardware would be compatible with WINDOWS only.

Well, I gave it at try:-)

.... and I can tell you, the joystick itself does work very well with the iMAC!!!

... it is incredible to fly the Aerofly FS A320 with this joystick:-)

But be reminded

this is an Airbus -fly by wire- joystick, so there are no buttons for elevator trim on top of it, but one can assign the functions to the buttons on the base of the joystick for use with other aircraft.

The only thing is, the downloadable accompanying software is for WIN only, but I don't know what its for anyway.

I thought I do share this info with you MAC folks, as nobody has written anything yet about compatibility.

cheers

ApfelFlieger · July 5, 2020 at 11:31 PM

Moin Clipper747pa ,

thank you for your report, I had already looked at the site today by chance and I had already thought about just trying it out.

Tschüss, Michael (🍅🚁)

drftorres · January 16, 2021 at 3:10 PM

Well, I am using the Thrustmaster TCA joystick with my iMac for Aerofly 2 and works great out of the box. I purchased the Thrustmaster TCA Quadrant but does not work. I may only use the buttons but not the throttles or reverse throttles. I will have to play a little more to check how I may use it.

ApfelFlieger · January 17, 2021 at 4:55 PM

My order is due to arrive at the end of January 2021 - I am curious and will report back.

ApfelFlieger · February 1, 2021 at 4:46 PM

I have since received the Thrustmaster Airbus Quadrant:

All switches and the both thrust levers, including the reverse thrust, work for me.

However, there are differences in the thrust levers between the Aerofly FS 2 versions from the App Store and from Steam:

In the version 2.04.23.01 (20200117) from the App Store I did not manage to put throttle and thrust reverse on the thrust levers at the same time.

I solved it by putting throttle on the thrust levers …

… and thrus reverse on the red buttons on the thrust levers:
With the version 2.05.03.27 (20210102) from Steam it fits as it should.

I will occasionally try to program the switches Eng directly in the gc-map.mfc.

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · February 1, 2021 at 6:24 PM Official Post

The App Store version was last updated on 17th January 2020. So that's why it doesn't support the quadrant fully yet.

ApfelFlieger · February 24, 2021 at 8:29 PM

Moin Jan,

in the STEAM version 2.05.03.27 (20210102) for the Mac, the Thrustmaster Airbus Quadrants 1&2 and 3&4 are displayed differently:

The Airbus Quadrant in the switch position 1&2 is recognised as a thrust lever (see also the logo) and thus has
- the reverse function and
- the button "Eng N" and the button "AB off“:

The Airbus Quadrant in the switch position 3&4 is only recognised as a joystick, there is
- neither the reverse function
- nor the two buttons:

=> Is there any way that the Thrustmaster Quadrant in the switch position 3&4 can also be used like in the switch position 1&2?

=> And how is the "AB off" button triggered - and what is that function?

ApfelFlieger · February 26, 2021 at 1:16 PM

Moin Jet-Pack (IPACS) ,

do you already know an answer to my question above?

Tschüss, Michael

ApfelFlieger · March 2, 2021 at 1:06 PM

Quote from ApfelFlieger

Moin Jan,
in the STEAM version 2.05.03.27 (20210102) for the Mac, the Thrustmaster Airbus Quadrants 1&2 and 3&4 are displayed differently:
The Airbus Quadrant in the switch position 1&2 is recognised as a thrust lever (see also the logo) and thus has
- the reverse function and
- the button "Eng N" and the button "AB off“:

The Airbus Quadrant in the switch position 3&4 is only recognised as a joystick, there is
- neither the reverse function
- nor the two buttons:

=> Is there any way that the Thrustmaster Quadrant in the switch position 3&4 can also be used like in the switch position 1&2?
=> And how is the "AB off" button triggered - and what is that function?

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Dear IPACS Team,

I would be happy if someone from the team could answer my question.

Bye, Michael

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