Thanks guys,
I appreciate the info. I just started to delve into this last night before I hit the sack, so haven't gotten too deep into the process yet. I'm in the midst of re-doing my controllers for all flight sims, using the following:Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog throttle and stick, (awesome), CH Flight yoke, CH pro pedals, 6 axis CH Throttle Quadrant, Saitek single throttle/prop/mix quadrant, and the aforementioned trim wheel. Also just grabbed a TrackIR, which is really cool. I have built a wooden mount for all of these that fits over my keyboard drawer, and a plywood mount that I put on my chair for the joystick which puts the stick between my knees where it belongs, instead of up on the desktop. Single throttle quad is on my left, used with joystick and pedals for a piston fighter setup, 6 axis quad on the right, used with the yoke for twins and heavies. FSUIPC does a great job of assigning (with some configuration work) the many axes to the right controls. This setup will cover anything from a Piper Cub to a P-38, a B-25 or B-29, to an F/A-18 to a 747. All controllers plug into the same dedicated powered USB switch mounted underneath. So when company is coming, all I unplug is the 1 USB, and its power cable, and remove the whole setup, and the joystick mount from my seat. The rudder pedals stay on the floor under the desk.
It's not by any means a 'cockpit', but it is capable of simulating any type of aircraft's controls quite well, is highly mobile, and positions the controls much better than just piling them on my desktop in front of my monitor, and setup/takedown are basically one step, for 7 peripherals, which suits my needs really well.
I'm flying CFS2 (of course!), FSX, DCS A-10 Warthog, IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, Rise of Flight, BMS Falcon, and Wings over Vietnam/Yankee Air Pirates. So I am making overlays/labels for the many buttons in the different sims. Lots of fun doing the "work" getting ready to fly!