Thank-you all for your very helpful comments regarding the short-comings of FS2004 and the superiority of X-Plane.
Billings - I actually just installed a registered copy of FSUIPC and use with Active Sky 2004 weather simulation program. The winds are much easier to deal with since installing AS2004. I'll see if I can use FSUIPC's tweak settings or FS2004 sensitivities to adjust my flight yoke.
Reverserunlocked - your feedback was invaluable - I too definitely feel frustrated with the over-sensitivty of FS aircraft and looks like my feeling that controlling a Flight Simulator 2004 aircraft is HARDER than the real thing may be justified.
John