nice pics Roy

Ooh man its nice.
By the way why did you choose the combat stick and not the fighter stick?

I have to wait until probably next weekend until my CH gear arrives.
Its going to be a long long week.

The only difference between the two is more buttons/more functionality.The amount of buttons on the Combatstick is enough for me.Plus, I find it odd to have a hatswitch on the left side of the stick,where the thumb rests.The Combatstick has a big red button there ,which is great for firing cannons.My previous stick had a similar button there and it served the same function.So for me it looks better and cost less.Its a matter of opinion to be honest.By the way, thanks Snake.

I made a short video with both sticks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UgrKPETcuM

hows it going Roy?

I have only tested the stick with Wings of Prey,had a lot of fun though.I find myself forgetting about the dogfight and concentrating in just flying.Still waiting for the throttle quadrant and pedals.

lol i know what you mean re the just wanting to fly and get used to stick and some one comes and shoots you :).ive ordered the CH rudders now,out of stock early next week, throtlle next lol.let us know when you get your stuff.

Well I finally got my fighterstick today. Had originally ordered it on the 9th of feb, so it took waaay more time than I'm used to waiting.
I now have my full CH Hotas setup.

I only had an hour to mess around with the stick, but I'm happy with it so far. The movement is something that I'm going to have to get used to as far as the x/y axis being independent of each other compared to your "traditional" stick.
The other thing is it's huuuuge. My hand can't sit on the joystick hand rest at the bottom and my thumb reach to the top buttons without lifting my hand up slightly. Not TOO much of a problem considering what those keys are mapped to currently.

The response from the stick in IL2 compared to my old stick brings on a whole new level as far as flying goes. Where my old stick would make my plane bank/dive/climb at the slightest movement, this stick needs a bit more movement to get the same effect. After joy riding around getting a feel for the new stick, I completely smashed my landing gear and skidded to a halt on the runway when landing.

I guess I need more flight time with the new stick :-P

Dunno if this has been posted in this thread, but if still looking for more info on programmable HOTAS options:

http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_094a.html

Nice to know that you like it.I got used to it right away,apart from the buttons movement,this stick is perfect for me.Just called UPS the rest of my gear should be here tomorrow.

Good read.