Some time ago I saw an advertisement for the Octavi IFR1 device, a small USB device for controlling buttons and knobs in your cockpit – in a flight simulator, I might add. The device was sent to me this week and it has been a thrill to test it out.

The build is great and the whole device communicates quality.

The smart design of the device packs a lot more functionality into it than meets the eye. The buttons on the left enable you to select a device in the cockpit and then use the wheels to adjust the appropriate values. The FMS1 and FMS2 devices enable you to further control the PFD and MFD with ease. The responsiveness of the knobs is also great.

Octavi suggested two ways to use the device with your flight sim, either by using their plugin or then using Mobiflight to setup an interface between the device and your sim. I opted for the latter as it was obvious that this approach would enable me to configure the device in a more detailed manner.

I was a bit disappointed to find that there was no ready-made profile for the G1000 in the downloads included with the plugins and Mobiflight, so I made one. The G1000 is by far the most used default FMS in aircraft these days, in X-Plane 12. I uploaded the file to the X-Plane forums for everyone to enjoy. The profile is a great starting point to configure the device for your own use, but it works great out of the box as well.

I’ve also supported the Mini FCU device on Kickstarter earlier this summer. Eager to see how that improves realism and usability of the FCU in the flight simulators.