I use a Micrsoft Force Feedback Pro, bought this thing at a bargain price of £50/$88USD 6 years ago and its still going strong. Its the very first FF Pro with the power supply and stuff its a monster but it does the job. I am a seasoned Microsoft Flight Simulator pilot so find flying with the stick so much easier then the mouse/keyboard. You can do so much more with the stick than you can with the keyboard & mouse combination. The quality the the FF Pro is superb, its comfortable to use and is very sturdy. The buttons are well situated and are all programmable to. It has 8 main fire buttons, an 8 way Hat switch, and a shift button. It also was a throttle slider and twist rudder control.
I am using this along with the Joy2Key program that lets you asign keys to your pad, it works great for games like BF2 and Flight Simulator X Pro. Joy2Key can be downloaded from this link:
http://www.electracode.com/4/joy2key/Jo … ersion.htmIn my opinion joysticks are far superior to keyboard & mouse setups. After putting some thought into what functions to have on my joystick I can do a variety of things without ever taking my hands off the stick. For example I can do the follwoing drop flares, change camera views from Hud to Rear, change from AA to AG, parachute, spot enemies, use afterburners and more with my hands never leaving it.
I guess it all down to personal preference when it comes to flying, I prefer the joystick as you have more control, yeah its a learning curve, but so is everything. Thats why real pilots spend thousands of hours and learning to fly. SO PLEASE DON'T EXPECT THAT JUST CAUSE YOU HAVE A FLIGHT STICK THAT YOU WILL BE A PRO IN ONE 20 MINUTE SESSION IN SINGLE PLAYER. It takes time and patience to master but when you do, bot do you reap the rewards.
Am not by any means a seasoned vet in aviation in BF2 so for a great guide on what to do and how to fly check out [canada]ZenMasters guide here
http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=5321