In a press release provided to Threshold, Nicki Repenning of Honeycomb Aeronautical provides an update on the progress of the Charlie Rudder Pedals, management of Honeycomb, and RMA units for those who have returned their products.

Starting off with the replacement units, Mr. Repenning says that over the past few months, he’s “been trying to find a solution to replace approximately 110 faulty units that were sent out to customers and have been returned,” but has run into issues due to his former business partner, Mike Steup of Snakebyte-group, not replacing customer’s faulty units. As an alternative, Repenning says that he has been able to obtain replacement products that he will start shipping out to customers July 15th, and he plans to have them all shipped by the end of July.

As for the Charlie pedal pre-orders, both Mr. Reppening and his former business partner at Snakebyte have started production of the pedals at different factories. According to Snakebyte, they will start shipping to customers on June 24th, but customers are still waiting for confirmation on the shipping. If that does not pan out, Reppening says, pre-order customers will get an email with an “alternative solution.”

Furthermore, Mr. Reppening addresses questions about the future of management at Honeycomb. Reppening explains, “After months of trying to find a new partner to buy out my former partner’s interest in Honeycomb, I realized that it wasn’t a task I was able to handle by myself,” and he has “engaged capable business and legal advisors who are helping me move forward.” He continues to say that both Snakebyte and Honeycomb are working towards a “ solution that doesn’t require litigation and they [Repenning’s advisors] have done an excellent job,” and that he believes that “we [Honeycomb] are in the home stretch and will come to an agreement soon on the terms by which I will regain ownership and management of the full Honeycomb business.” Reppening adds that he hopes to make an announcement on that situation soon, but is cautious and is “not counting my chickens yet.”

Additionally, Mr. Reppening says that he is at FSExpo 2024 in Vegas, and he is open to questions, but he will be “doing an AMA in the coming weeks, so everyone else will have the chance to do the same.” Reppening reports that they “have the first production units ready to ship but will also bring ten units to FS Expo which I will personally hand deliver at the show.” As for the second run of production, that will “be ready at the end of July and will be made available for purchase once the factory has confirmed the shipping date to us.”

Finally, Mr. Reppenning thanks the community for “the incredible support that I and my team have received,” and he says that they “have also read the comments from people who have been critical and have taken that to heart.” He ends off with a message to the community, saying that “The only thing we can do right now is to look ahead, learn from the past and stay optimistic about the future,” and that if customers have any question for him, they can email him at: AskNicki@HoneycombSim.com.

As for his former business partner at Snakebyte-group, they have not followed up on any questions in a request for comment sent by Threshold.Stay tuned to Threshold for more high-quality flight simulation news!