Hi,I have been using the CH yoke and pedals and they work fine. Most of the new commercial aircraft and I think some new biz jets are using "side sticks" instead of a yoke. I was thinking of getting a joystick to make flying the new jets more realistic. The only joystick I've looked at so far is the CH "Flightstick Pro USB." I know there are a lot of joysticks available so I wanted to ask for any recommendations members of the forum may have. I don't want a combat joystick - just one for civilian aircraft.Also, I'm not sure that I can plug in two different USB joysticks without conflicts.Thanks.Tom:-hmmm

I highly recommend the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2. It's extremely versatile, and is a good stick regardless of which aircraft you are flying. And the force feedback adds a lot to the experience. You can actually somewhat feel the effects of elevator trim. The only downside is that Microsoft got out of the controller business about a year ago, and so this stick is no longer made. But you should still be able to find one without too much trouble. You can use multiple USB devices with Flight Simulator without any difficulties. I have the CH Products Flight Yoke and the Sidewinder (both USB) plugged in at the same time, and either can be used to fly the aircraft. You may want to make sure you center the Sidewinder if you're going to use the yoke, because control inputs from the stick may override the yoke when the yoke is "idle" for a few seconds. You can elminate this problem by just deleting the control assignments for the device you don't plan to use, and just click "Reset to Defaults" when you're ready to use that device again. Or you could just unplug the device, and plug it back in when you're ready to use it again. You don't even have to exit out of Flight Simulator!

I use the CH yoke and peddeals whan on the road, keep em in the trunk. Also I have the side winder 2. I am happy with them. (athome on my desk top Iuse PFC Cirrus II set up). So this is a good sub when on the road. (Toshiba P25-5607 w/ 1 gig Dram, Nvidia G-force 5200 V- card, 17 wide screen Lap top with a Mitsubishi 18 pannel for the second monitor, This is my road set up, of course with the CH and MS hardware).Now I unplug my usb yoke then plug in my usb force feed back stick. I am sure the other fellows Idea of having both plugged in at the same time works as he say's. It is I was told from CH tech support that it was a bit more simple to keep it simple and I went with there recommendation. It only takes me a minute to unplug one and plug in the other. Also, my buttom assinments are saved as I go back and forth from the yoke to the stick so this method is fine with me.There are a lot of sticks, I went with the force feedback 2 as to attemt to minimize any potiential conflicts. Trust me when you plug a MS hardware product in and the software running is from MS it will see it, LOL. Others work as well, I just dont want to mess with different drivers and various trouble shooting issues. I am not a tech savey person, so my comments might be to simplified for you.I hope this helps.

>Most of the new commercial aircraft and I think some new biz>jets are using "side sticks" instead of a yoke. I was thinking>of getting a joystick to make flying the new jets more>realistic. >(to my knowledge - no business jets yet).And to even make it more ealistic make sure you can handle joystick in your left hand since this is how captain has it (stick in the left hand and throttle in the right hand). Threfore I highly recommend Saitek Cyborg 3D USB - the only joystick that gives you full left hand capability (and with a wrench you can configure it for either hand). All other joystick were designed primarily for combat and therefore I find them unsuitable for civilian aircraft.Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg

Hi Tom,I've used CH sticks before. I used to have a CH FighterStick, and for the most part I liked it. On the plus side, I liked the shape and feel of the stick in the hand, and the buttons were (for the most part) easy to reach and plentiful. It also had the advantage of working with the CH Control Manager software, so it could be customized ad nauseum to work with my other CH controllers, the pro pedals and throttle. On the down side, I felt its springs were too loose and resistance was not great enough, and the main hat switch was too far above the hand grip to be easily reachable -- and I've got big hands! All in all, it's a pretty solid piece of kit and isn't a bad stick at all, though. A tad pricey for what you get, perhaps.I'm using an old Logitch Force USB stick right now, mainly because I love its heavy, solid feel and the old cable-driven forces are much stronger than the newer digital models. It isn't free of problems either, the main one being that its memory gets full easily and some forces sent to it by FSForce (an FS module I use as well) dont' translate sometimes as a result. Mostly it's fine, though. It does take up a lot of room on the desk, however!I've heard really good things about Sidewinder FFB 2 sticks, but as they aren't made anymore I'm having trouble finding one for a reasonable price. Perhaps you'll have better luck!Just one man's opinion.thanks,

Hi,Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. Now I have a good idea of what is out there re joysticks and where to find them. I'm surprised at the differences in prices of the joysticks. It seems like some very good ones are not that expensive.Tom :-)