Take a look at the CH Products lineup. Rock-solid reliability, very accurate, great warranty. Downside: They do not twist, so turning must be done with the keyboard or foot pedals. My first joystick was a CH Flightstick Pro, and as far as I know it's still working fine. 10+ years of hard gaming. The Saitek and Logitech sticks I've had? All died.
The cost can put some people off, but comparing to the price of replacing lower quality sticks over and over, the CH becomes cheaper.
http://www.chproduct...13-p-124.html#5
My current setup is a Fighterstick + Pro Pedals.
[edit] The MS FFB Sidewinders are epic. Not really my bag, but still the best at what they do. The lack of support isn't the fault of game designers however, rather the fault of Microsoft. To that end, I don't think PGI could support those great old sticks even if they wanted to.
Edited by Thomas Hogarth, 04 June 2012 - 04:54 PM.