MOZA MTP Throttle - Detailed Review

What is it?

The MOZA MTP Throttle, inspired by carrier aircraft, delivers a realistic and immersive experience through authentic styling, finger lift throttles with a host of physical buttons and switches. Designed to cover the most commonly used controls, with additional functionality soon to be available through an expansion module, the MTP Throttle firmly establishes itself in the Combat Flight Simulation market.

Unboxing

Arriving with the optional MOZA Flight Support Plate, the products are packaged in a similar way to the rest of the MOZA ecosystem for flight products. A shipping box protecting a well-presented product box with key information on the outside while for simpler items, the box displays setup and installation information.

Everything comes well protected in sunken foam and plastic coverings to ensure it is well protected as it makes its journey to your home cockpit. Manuals and a healthy collection of MOZA stickers to sneakily attach to your neighbour’s bumper are also included.

The main top plate of the throttle unit consists of several smaller faces broken up into sections grouping the switches and knobs in their respective areas. These faces are high gloss piano black plastic and are further protected with the use of a plastic film that will also need to be removed.

During the removal of this film I noted that it’s obviously applied prior to the throttle detent adjustment adapter going on and thus will also need to be unscrewed to successfully remove all the plastic protection film.

Construction and Materials

Looking over the throttles, it looks well designed and I am quite fond of the angular cut back on the far side of the device that looks great but also serves a purpose for angling the additional MOZA MTLP Panel towards the pilot once attached.

The device is made mostly of plastic with metal MOZA stylised panels on each side and a series of imitation plastic panels on top of the device denoting different clusters of switches and knobs. Underneath the throttles sit several mounting holes for mounting the throttles to a home cockpit or the optional flight support base. There is also a non-slip rubber strip top and bottom to help with the throttles not slipping on the desk, but they do present another issue which I will discuss in more detail a little later in this review.

27.7cm (longest point) by 19.4cm wide and 21.6cm high (throttles at highest position)

Located on the rear face of the throttles you have further mounting holes, this time for the optional expansion board to come soon along with a USB Type A plug and MOZA RJ11 Transit plug.

Taking a deep dive into the top face, it is separated by several panels all of which are presented in piano black gloss with laser etched writing which is clear and easy to read even with the backlighting off. Upon deeper inspection, while each panel looks to be secured by 4 hex bolts, these are purely for cosmetic purposes and the entire top panel is simply 1 piece.

The top face consists of 11 switches, 6 rotary knobs, a slider and pushbuttons. The switches are all metal and consist of 2 position and 3 positions switches with the Engine Crank switch being true to form and going left to right instead of up and down. All the switches are metal and feel of premium construction and up to the task of the virtual battlefield. I note that all switches are the same switch head apart from the LTD/R switch which has a thicker head on it to allow you to easily distinguish between it and the other switches that flank it, great idea for a heavily used switch when laser targeting. However, unlike the real switch on the F/A-18 Hornet that flicks back to off once the laser has stopped, will this result in the switch needing to be cycled to be reactivated?

Finally, the throttle is flanked by independent adjustments for the tension applied to the throttle arms. These are rotated by the included hex keys with rotation clockwise resulting in firmer pressure being required, equally rotating them counter-clockwise results in a slackening and requiring less force to move the throttle arms. Interestingly, I found the tension applied from factory resulted in me thinking that mine were either broken or there was some sort of throttle lock on as they required me to not have skipped arm day at the gym to move. Simply easing off the tension adjustment freed them up to move without issue.

The button, switch, and knob selection on the MOZA MTP Throttle is an interesting design choice. Features like the INS and Rudder Trim wouldn’t have been my first picks over more commonly used buttons such as Air-to-Ground/Air-to-Air or a Gear, Flap, or Hook switch. Comparing it to the WINWING Orion 2 highlights two distinct design philosophies. MOZA appears to prioritize a clean, simplified layout, likely assuming users will purchase the expansion module to avoid button duplication while still delivering a capable setup for virtual carrier operations. In contrast, WINWING takes a more comprehensive approach, including everything you might need upfront, with the expansion panel providing additional assignable switches rather than just filling in gaps. Given that, wouldn’t it have made sense for MOZA to at least include a gear or hook switch?

The detent adjustment adapter follows a design similar to those used by other manufacturers, featuring an all-plastic construction with multiple detents and adjustable placement options. It comes standard with all detents pre-installed, each secured with a hex bolt and a nut on the opposite side. Removal is quick and easy using the included hex key.

Moving to the throttles themselves, the aluminium alloy heads sit atop a plastic arm that also include a finger-lift mechanism on each arm for engaging the lowest part of the throttles commonly used for engine cutoff. Similarly to other brands, the throttle-lift mechanism is not a button; that function is provided by the throttles passing beyond the detent.

Each of the multiple position thumb switches on the right throttle feel good however with a button head design of straight lines, I found that with any oil on your fingers could result in slippage of the button in the direction of the lines. I found this common on the topmost multi position switch which is used for dispenser activation in the real F/A-18 Hornet.

Optional Flight Support Base

The support base allows for easier installation of both the AB9 base and throttle to a home cockpit. For both options it also provides a way of further securing the base to a desk through the use of suction cups that can be bolted to the corner of the base, a method used by many to help keep these from moving on your desk. Given some of the challenges with these throttles unintentionally rocking, this might be an option worth considering.

Manual

Manual is consistent with other MOZA flight modules like the AB9 base, a simplified manual covering the basics of how to get up and running.

Setup and Configuration

Connectivity to your computer is via included USB-B to Type A cable or if you have the MOZA AB9 base, you can save yourself a USB slot on your computer and connect the throttles using the included RJ11 Transit cable and jack into the back of your AB9 base. Will be interesting to see if the Transit plug/cable will be used for when the MTLP expansion panel is released in the future.

Setup was very straightforward once connected and anyone with previous MOZA hardware can expect a similar experience. For me it was heading into the MOZA application where I was then greeted with an additional coloured icon and a tease of the additional expansion panel depicting the connected throttles now seen by my computer.

Before diving into the settings, I headed over to the firmware updater tool as we had BETA firmware that included several fixed bugs to load. Simple and easily loaded up the firmware updater tool and began the process of updating the firmware.

Once updated it was back into the application to have a look around at the new pages and settings now available. It’s a relatively simple affair within the application with just a graphic showing you the current state of switches, axes and a LED Brightness lighting control slider. Additionally, you have axis calibrations for Left/Right throttles, X and Y for the mini-hat and finally the slider located on the bottom right of the throttles. Beyond that there isn’t much else at this point in time. No configuration options changing mini-hat switch into 5 position buttons, vibration controls or any of that other good stuff that you find in some of the competitor’s applications.

How Does It Feel?

Disclosure, at the time of this review prior to the release of the product, we only had access to BETA firmware that resulted in the following known issues that MOZA have stated will shortly be fixed:

1. LED Backlighting knob and Brightness slider in MOZA App not functioning correctly
2. Vibration functionality not available and unable to be tested

Additionally, there is also a known issue with the afterburner removable plastic detent resulting in the right throttle getting caught and requiring much more effort to move through the detent than the left throttle.

Current Firmware: 1.1.1.10 / MOZA Software version: 1.0.4.17

Since the design layout takes heavy inspiration from the F/A-18 Hornet, that’s where I spent most of my time for this review. Unfortunately, DCS didn’t do me any favors—there was no default control binding, so I had to painstakingly assign every single command manually. Oddly enough, I found the whole process surprisingly satisfying. Maybe I just enjoy suffering? Or maybe I need to have a serious talk with myself about what I consider “fun.”

Once airborne I do have to admit, I did miss not having hardware switches/knobs and knockers for Flaps and Gear retraction. I actually looked down a few times at the throttles subconsciously before remembering they didn’t exist. It’s clear that early in the design stage decisions were made that this would always be joined to the expansion MTLP Panel adding that extra functionality, a $299 bit of kit taking the total cost of this close to $900AUD (At time of review). Looking at some competitors in this area, for almost half that price you can get all those and more in the base throttle product.

I’m not necessarily saying this is a bad thing however I do wonder if having knobs for INS and a few lighting knobs that are hardly used during combat is more beneficial than that of having buttons for different attack modes, autopilot modes or even a parking brake.

Now up and away I was on climb out from the carrier heading for the coast with my newly acquired F-14 Tomcat buddy just chopping at the bit to take my first Air-to-air kill. Given I was loaded up with laser bombs and a targeting pod, I headed for the AO and began sighting targets. Ready for weapons release I was very pleased to find that the LTD/R (Laser Target Designator) switch has a different head to the rest of the switches in the cluster. This means that without looking you can simply grab the switch and recycle it every time you want to use the laser. If this switch didn’t have a different head, you’d be counting switches or worse, taking your eyes off your target to make sure you have grabbed the right knob! We’ll done with this little choice MOZA.

Dropping my bombs whilst forgetting about the SA-11 (Anti-Aircraft) got my heart rate up and my aircraft diving for the ground as I zigged and zagged through the canyons and tuck tail back to the carrier to reload. Overhead the carrier it was time to configure, again manually grabbing the mouse to click virtual handles made me miss physical gear, flaps and hook handles even more. Pushing through that inconvenience, it was time to dance on the throttles and ram into the back of the carrier. The throttles have a consistent smooth movement with a nicely sized throttle head for the left and right throttles and with some dancing and clenched cheeks, I was back on the carrier ready to reload and head out for my next mission.

Airborne again and heading inland, my next mission had me going deep into the Caucasus’s and required a hop onto the tanker for some additional motion lotion before hitting the target. The throttles come with a single slider on the bottom right face and for me this was a perfect axis for Zoom. Sliding my left hand down off the throttles, the slider is easily moved with just a finger with a smooth and consistent sliding motion. It wasn’t long before the zoomed binoculars had me eyes on the tanker and it was now time to do the dance of endless frustration getting hooked up.

As I crept up behind the tanker, I got the all-clear and began my approach. This was the moment of truth. I glanced down at the refuelling panel on the throttles, extended my probe with great enthusiasm (get your mind out of the gutter), and separated the throttles using the small locking pin. Unlike some other throttles I’ve tested, these stayed gloriously independent—no surprise reunifications mid-refuel.

With my setup ready, it was time to ‘walk’ the throttles, take deep breaths, and pretend I wasn’t sweating bullets. Miraculously, on my first attempt, I latched on like a pro and started guzzling down that sweet, prehistoric dino juice—just enough to ensure I could make it all the way to my next thrilling destination: the warm embrace of enemy ground-to-air missile launchers.

Let’s just say… the mission technically ended with me testing my ejection seat.

Conclusion

The MOZA MTP Throttle is a solid entry into the combat throttle market and once some minor bugs are worked out with things like missing vibrations, lighting and challenges with detents should be a more than capable unit to complement the very strong AB9 base.

The MOZA MTP Throttles deliver a solid and immersive experience for combat flight simulation enthusiasts offering a clean and functional layout with quality features in metal switches, finger-lift mechanisms and smooth throttle movement. Its adjustable detents, Hall effect sensors and 27 programmable switches add to the versatility and in piano black with clear laser-etched backlit labels should make this easy to read in any condition. However, the decision to exclude some basic controls for gear, flap and hook switches in favour of less frequently used functions may leave some users that don’t wish to purchase the additional MTLP expansion panel feeling hard done by.

Additionally, the less than stable stance of these throttles sitting on a desk with some rocking motion induced by sideways movement could also detract from what has the foundations of being a great addition to your home cockpit. That said, there is a lot to like about the MTP Throttle unit in its approach to the quality feel of the throttle motion, the well thought out LTD/R Switch head cap and upcoming (but untested) features like vibrations.

With a little more polish through firmware and software updates, I’m confident that the MOZA flight ecosystem continues to grow in the right direction with a compelling throttle option in the MOZA MTP Throttle.

Good but with room to grow, 6/10