So far so good

I have limited experience with this unit so this will be a very limited review, but I will go over some highlights. I bought it in order to be able to play Microsoft Flight Simulator X. FSX is NOT a combat flight sim so this joystick is not the ideal choice of peripherals to use with that simulator. For practice with civilian aircraft, a yoke would probably be a better choice.

The main drawback that I've had with this joystick is that it's a bit light. When I'm playing the game, the unit can tend to shift a little on my desktop when I apply strong pressure on the joystick. It doesn't shift much and since the throttle levers are on the joystick base, you usually have two hands holding the unit anyway.

This joystick is high quality and accurate. By using the selector switch on the front, it has the ability to hold 3 different control configurations at once. The configs are labeled as OFF, A, B. Saitek includes a software CD-ROM with the unit so that you can customize the controls. MS Flight Simulator X provides the ability to customize the joystick via the in-game Settings menu so you don't need the Saitek software for FSX.

The controls include the config selector switch, 4 2-way toggles (giving you 8 separate controls), a trigger, 3 'fire' buttons (including a lighted RED button shielded under a guard), and an 8-way "hat" switch. It also has dual throttles that can be locked together or unlocked to function separately.

The dual throttle controls are fun because you can control multi-engine aircraft more realistically. While you are limited to only 2 separate engine controls (which is adequate for most aircraft except for the very large bombers and airliners), they can be mapped to control the Left engines & Right engines separately. You can then, more realistically deal with engine fires and engine failures in the game.

Rudder action is controlled simply by twisting the joystick. A better and more realistic way to control rudder action is to buy a separate USB pedal assembly. Controlling the rudder via twisting the joystick works fine for taxiing on the runway; however, using it to make coordinated turns while airborne is a bit tricky. I have only owned this joystick for a couple of weeks so I haven't gotten the hang of smoothly controlling the rudder with it. When flying helicopters, using this joystick to control the rudder ("anti-torque")is especially tricky. Anti-torque control is a major part of turning in a helicopter (more so than in an airplane) so I strongly recommend using a pedal assembly for that.

I won't go into detail about the various buttons because all of them can be assigned to any of the various controls that your flight sim game contains. The available controls will differ with various aircraft. Again, I haven't used this with a combat flight sim (which is what this stick is actually designed for), but it's obvious that the button layout is meant to resemble a weapons control system. I have used the various toggles and buttons to control things such as Flaps, Elevator Trim, Landing Gear, Parking Brake, etc. I often use the weapon firing buttons for things like starting the engines, etc.

If this unit is combined with a USB rudder pedal system, then I think it would be a fairly complete flight sim system for combat games. Once the joystick twist is no longer assigned to rudder control, it can be mapped to something else (like replacing the 'hat switch' as the Look Around in your virtual cockpit mode). The options are only limited by your software and your imagination.

Overall, I think this is a comfortable and fun joystick. It's not the cheapest (nor the most expensive), but I think it's a great choice for all but the most serious sim pilots.