Saitek released Saitek X65F Pro Flight System in 2009, and make force sensor technology used in Saitek X65F public. That means joystick detection applied to strength player operation, it can be said that Saitek X65F right joystick is completely fixed and only be operated for force.

In 2010, Saitek X65F officially on sale. Saitek X65F inside design is so good but package is very simple.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has a black body and it referes modern fighter planes joystick design, Saitek X65F Pro Flight System really full of reality and fighting. Saitek X65F Pro Flight System appearance gives the feel is very heavy, very metal texture, and its metal plate reflect the status of Saitek X65F Pro Flight System.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System left throttle uses the pairs of odd and even throttle, and give up MFD LCD screen of X52 and X52PRO instead of control panel which colses to real fighters.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has five custom design buttons in the main control panel, also four mode indicator lights as well as four preset force sensing intensity select buttons. There reserves the flight instrument package load on the right and upper of main control panel, but you need to purchase separately.

We must mention here that Saitek X65F Pro Flight System can set different flight force you need after install the driver through built-in control panel or SST programming software to ensure filght quality in all aspects.

Close-up to Saitek X65F Pro Flight System throttle rod, we can clearly see dual-throttle while its shaft uses metal.

You can adjust throttle driving force with the left hand.

In left thumb active regions, there are a mouse-axis, two coolie hat, two knobs, three custom buttons(two in the knob) and a mode switch button.

We can see a wheel selector switch as well as odd and even throttle slider while view from left pf throttle rod.

There are two coolie hats and a selection key with two direction in the back of throttle rod. Since all coolie hats and selection keys can be programmed through SST, all coolie hats can be considered as four custom key exists without the need of radar and direction choice of coolie hats, so that Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has a considerable number of keys, which is not difficult to achieve hand stay joystick in multiple keys of flight simulation games.

Odd and even switching throttlr slider in the left buttom of throttle rod and it really does not as convenient as AV8R and CyborgX.

It is indisputably that right hand is the key point of Saitek X65F Pro Flight System.

Right hand of Saitek X65F Pro Flight System uses metal material while four coolie hats reflect Saitek characteristics. Saitek X65F Pro Flight System right joystick sets X,Y,Z axis as a whole, are force sensing equipment. It may be the first example that add force sensing into flight simulation peripheral. There are only U.S. F-16 and F-22 jets use force sensing technology. The difference is that F-16 and F-22 force sensing are in order to avoid the pilot can not perceive they are flight with force or not, and actually it has four to eight mm displacement while Saitek X65F Pro Flight System is zero.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System also has palmrest, you can place your hand on palmrest in the case of long flight to enhance comfortable also alleviate hand ache in long-term use.

It is a pity that Saitek X65F Pro Flight System does not follow adjustable satisfy of X52/52PRO which may lead to some young players can not use palmrest and can not use thumb to operate keys, so there is a palmrest pad in accessories to upgrade about one to two CM.

Thumb operating regions including four coolie hats and a custom button, it is worth mentioning that you can interchange top three coolie hats to suit your habit.

You can see palmrest booster height and finger keys.

The most prominent is the red fire button, you can see custom buttons in the top right and a little finger keys below joystick. We can truly feel that Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has a lot of custom keys.

Red fire button gives up double fireing button design but its operation is incredibly good and the intensity just right.

You can clearly see that top right of custom buttons.

The most important part of Saitek X65F Pro Flight System, force sensing components and there is no displacement.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System left hand and right hand need quite large force which could have some trouble for Saitek X65F Pro Flight System, so package also comes with a floor that can be fixed with the screws and joystick.

There are installation method in packing.

There are also two CD-ROMS and a manual, one of CD-ROM is drive and the other is demo version of “Lock On: Modern Air Combat” film “Lock On: anger cliff.” That even more certain of Saitek X65F Pro Flight System focus on modern air combat direction.

After install the driver, open the control panel , you can see test area in right. Pay attention that Z-axis control surfaces can be locked, you can lock Z-axis control surface to avoid conflicts when using feet.

The test area of left hand trottle.

The main control panel test area.

Force sensing density regulation, the X, Y, Z-axis intensity can be adjusted, you can preset 4 different states.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System Joystick dead zone setting.

You can test right hand joystick and adjust the intensity in the SST.

Players can edit their own custom keys by SST to adapt to different flight simulation games, and also set differect keys in different modes to adapt different flight task. Incidentally, Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has onboard memory that is means players need not to copy configuration file and use original configuration file if connect to another computer directly. It is very convenient.

Let’s have a test.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System Features
•    Metal construction for the ultimate in realism and durability
•     Unique force sensing stick – all input is detected from how hard you push on the stick, just like in real modern day jet fighters. This includes a force-sensing twist rudder control
•    Features on-the-fly adjustment of the force settings for the stick – including separate adjustments for each axis of the stick for the ultimate in stick response configuration.
•     Dual throttle for finer control over twin engine jets, or lock the two throttles together for single engine fighters
•    Stick controls include:
3 x 8-way hats
1 x 8-way thumb hat
1 x trigger
2 x buttons
2 x pinkie switches
•     Throttle controls include:
2 x rotaries (incorporating push button controls)
1 x mouse hat
4 x 8-way hats
1 x 2 way ‘K’ switch
1 x scroll selector
1 x 4 position mode switch
•     Back panel with 5 more control switches, force-sensing strength selection, mode indication and mounting points for Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panels (sold separately)
•     A potential total of 608 commands possible without ever moving your hands from the controls!
Connectivity: USB 2.0

Compatible with Windows XP, XP64, Windows Vista (all versions), and Windows 7 (all versions).

Test platform uses Intel Core i7 920,6 GB DDR3 1600 memory, graphics cards using HD4890 graphics. Test game uses “Lock On: Modern Air Combat” and “Microsoft Flight Simulator 10″ (FSX).Driver uses Saitek native device drivers and SST software, configuration is edut by me.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System uses force sensor technology. You can set four usual force in several test to ensure flight mission require.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System is very sensitive and precision is quite high. Saitek X65F Pro Flight System center may be a small displacement if right joystick is not in horizontal position, you can use dead zone to set up external factors.

I set up four common intensity after several test. As Saitek X65F Pro Flight System right joystick including X,Y,Z axis and whole is sensing operation. Players may lead to rudder conflict for force is not precisely if without the associated power conditioning and sufficient time for adaptation.

Finally , I set four gears Z-axis intensity in 1.8N/m, this intensity is more appropriate for my hand. As other shown in the pictures, F1 is for civil aircraft or normal flight state, the normal flight does not require big motor so the intensity can not be large. F2 is fighter combat status, the appropriate intensity can have precise sensitivity in BVR or CAC. F3 can set force low and be used with the difficult and highly stunt flying. F4 can be used to test aircraft control surfaces in the game.

The first is LOCK ON. I have spent one day to adjust and adapat Saitek X65F . The basis of first test flight choose SU-27. It is hard to control during pull off with F1, which fully proved in reality that U.S. Navy pilots can not suit from F/A-18 to F-16. However, Saitek X65F Pro Flight System is quite stable and accurate in flight, it really can achieve zero displacement in flying low, also sensitive in roll response. In the landing operation, X65F can very smoothly.

The second test is aerial refueling, choose SU-33, F2. Aerial refueling need whole manual full throttle and full manual alignment operation. The operating accuracy is relatively high which can be used as reference for flying formate.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System throttle is very precise.Right joystick operation is very stability.

The third test is air combat. I use F-15C, enemy are four  best mobility E-level Mirage 2000 in LOCK ON. The air combat mission last one hour, one time fighting is about two minutes. Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has a good performance in rolling. Regardless of shooting or respond are quite good. Default intensity should not be too small in combat, it may easy to cause error even enter the spiral.

The second phase is doing simple test in FSX. First choose FSX third-party plug-in IRIS’S F-16D which has a relatively high degree of simulation.
However, it seems that Saitek X65F in FSX has a higher fitness than in LOCK ON, all kinds of normal flight very smooth.

Then use Flight1 SuperPro MD-82 to do short-range flight test, but because of the autopilot,commercial aircraft operation is quite simple. Use F1 normal flight make you feel very comfortable, it is easy to get Nice Landing evaluation.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System as a high-end product, its ahead of innovative technology enables many new and old players shines. As a high-end joystick for modern air combat, Saitek X65F Pro Flight System is a unique flight simulator peripherals in terms of design, innovation or kernel.

For me, I like design of Saitek X65F Pro Flight System, it is quite clear in concept and positioning compared to X52PRO. You need to spent time to adapt X65F to feel and play X65F real performance. We can see Saitek sustenance of hope to Saitek X65F Pro Flight System from materials and design.

As I mentioned above, Saitek X65F Pro Flight System main control panel is reserved for flight instrumentation, this may not fully reflect X65F potential. You need two kinds of equipment to show X65F completely.

TrackIR head tracking system. Because there is a high vision requirements for pilots in the air, the activity rate is very large. Coolie hat operation may not able to meet this need. Saitek X65F Pro Flight System sets X.Y.Z axis in one so that can do precise rudder control.

Saitek X65F Pro Flight System as a new generation of high-end flight joystick, its performance is worth you to experience. From X36, X52, X52PRO, Saitek does not give double joystick. Saitek X65F Pro Flight System has tremendous potential either design or concept. I believe that Saitek X65F Pro Flight System will replace X52PRO soon as therepresentative of high-end joystick.