Thanks for that. Was it a "Wingman Force 3D - Force Feedback Usb"? I did a quick search for Logitech joysticks, and that seems to match your description - pretty reasonable at £37 too. I've no idea what the AUD->GBP exchange rate is, so I could be waaay wrong.
X-plane recommends a set of CH-Products kit that comes to the better part of 300USD - probably 300 pounds, too, given that we normally have a $1 -> £1 exchange rate for computer kit. Looks nice - pretty much like the Tomahawk setup, for a start - but that's way too much money.
I'm not really looking for absolute realism in a flight sim, just a chance to practice things - if it saves me half an hour in the air then it pays for itself. At the moment I'm very much a beginner - only 1.9 hours so far
- but I've only just started. Planning on getting 20 or so by the end of the summer, flying when the weather allows during the winter (almost certainly never knowing the UK
) and finishing off the PPL next year, with an IMC if time and money permits.
As far as I remember, USB is a good thing because the data rate is higher (although I'm not sure how much that matters for a joystick) and it can power the force feedback. Not sure if there is any other reason. Convenience, I guess.
All the best,
Evo