Thrustmaster TCA Sidestick Airbus Edition Review

Performance

I’ve been playing with this stick for a few days now, I actually just took a break between this page and the last to put in another hour. It’s remarkably comfortable to use. However, I think it must be if it’s a copy of a real-world aircraft stick that’s designed to be used for long-haul flights. The base of the stick is nice and large and it gives you somewhere to rest your hand while holding the stick; very good for those long and lazy sessions.

It’s good a really good grim to it too, despite being quite smooth. My kids can comfortably grasp the stick and use it easily enough. However, even my rather large hands and long fingers didn’t feel like they were drowning the handle. Plus, all the triggers are comfortable and easy to reach; everything just feels right. I would like more of a mouse click response from the trigger though, but the current switch is hardly rubbish.

The 4-way switch on the top is very nice, but for looking around, it’s basically 100% left, right, up or down. It lacks finer control but it’s still serviceable. Of course, you can remap all that and if you need absolute control over the camera, grab your mouse.

It’s got a nice grip though, with some textured rings that make it very easy to nudge the hat switch without compromising the angle of the main stick.

The side buttons are great too, and allow you to do whatever really. I had mine set to push to talk and change camera.

The magnetic sensor of the stick is great, allowing for incredible precision. There’s a good strength spring in there too, so it does offer plenty of resistance, but not so much you can’t put on full lock without the base tipping up.

The stick is quite sensitive but it’s certainly not twitchy, at least on default settings. I can make absolutely tiny adjustments mid-flight and they always feel smooth and natural. Of course, since this model doesn’t have rudders, I have the stick unlocked.

With the stick unlocked, I can twist the stick to adjust the rudders, and again, this works very smoothly. I tried using rudders via the Xbox One controller and the plane jerks and wobbles like a jelly, but this allows for much smoother adjustments.

The base of the stick is nicely weighted, so you can really pull all the way to full lock. However, it does have a limit and will tip up if really pushed. Of course, if your other hand it on the switches, that’ll balance it out anyway.

Here you have the throttle control, which like the rest, allows for really smooth incremental adjustments.

It also has a strange “notch” feeling at 20%, slide to that and you can zero your engines, but you can use the lower 20% as a virtual button, allowing you to throw the engines into reverse.

Again, I love the design, it’s simple but it works really well.

As for the side buttons, they can be removed via two screws in the side. The screwdriver isn’t included, but any small Philips head driver will get the job done.

On the base, you’ll find some small rubber grips, which don’t look much, but they got the job done just fine. There are no silly suction cups, which never really suited my needs. However, there are two tripod screw holes that I’m sure you can use with a clamp or stand.

Rather than configure all the controls again manually, you can flip the button configuration left and right with this switch, pretty handy actually.

So beer, podcasts, everything cranked at 4K, and the flight stick. I mean, I’ve had worse jobs to do if I’m honest. I was OK at best with the Xbox controller, but the lack of fine control often resulted in some bouncy landings, especially on the larger jets.

However, switching to the stick, the difference is night and day. I’m still a terrible pilot, but a terrible pilot who has much better control over his mistakes.