Overall, I'd have to say that the X-45 has the best combination of capabilities and price and (after having disassembled the stick grip) it's sturdily made and has an excellent "buttons to dollar" ratio. There are only two downsides I've found. The centering mechanism needs to be regularly lubed and I've worn out the #1 hat switch (and the design doesn't allow replacement). Because the switch doesn't work to check six I now just keep enemies in the windscreen.
I see a bit of nose bounce with the stick and have played with the settings but have ended up using the default settings except reducing dead band as others have described. The only adjustment that I haven't heard mentioned is the rudder control where I reduced the control authority (i.e., made the curve very shallow and flat for the first half and then ramping up to full authority) which makes it easier to make small corrections but still allows me to snap the plane around when I really need to. The biggest change I made was the hardest and that was to relax the "death grip" a bit and use good technique. A light touch works well with this stick. Bounce is worsened by trying to "hold" the pipper precisely on target. In additon to relaxing your grip change your targeting process a bit. Don't try to hold the pipper in a single position by pulling and pushing on the stick. This is forcing the control system to pass back and forth over the stick center and dead zone as well as changing the direction of the force you're applying. Pull to place the pipper ahead of the target (or slightly above a target when you're on his six), let it settle for a second, and then relax your pull slightly and allow the pipper to naturally fall to the target. Squeeze the trigger as the pipper passes over your intended aimpoint. This keeps forces in one direction (pull) and only requires changes to the degree of pull, not reversal. It also helps if you have a bit of nose-down trim. Most of the fighters in AH (when using CT) will nose-up at high speed. It's very difficult to push the pipper down to a target so you really need to use trim (at least for high speed passes or running someone down). Also, you should not use rudder to adjust the plain of motion (i.e., the path of the pipper) but should instead increase or decrease angle of bank to make sure the pipper goes through the target. Using rudder to point the pipper is introducing yaw, sideslip and roll which complicates smooth tracking and produces unpredictable results (i.e., you're really just spraying bullets around, not aiming them). Rudder for a quick snapshot is fine, just don't count on being very accurate using it. This is real-world stuff. I don't know if this was intentionally modeled by HT but nose "bounce" is a very real issue with aircraft, this is not just a gaming issue. The ability to "point" the aircraft (including the number/amplitude of overshoots ((bounce)), degree of damping, flight control system hysterisis, etc) is very much part of the development of aircraft and plays an essential role for any weapons platform as does the pilot's ability to overcome physical limits of aircraft design by tactics and techniques.
On the other issue that people have questioned, I've also spent quite a bit of time sorting out the stick map (mostly with success) but have had problems I can't solve regarding trim. I first tried to map the trim to the throttle quadrant trim wheels. AH recognizes the wheels, however, the wheels do not appear to provide full trim authority nor does the wheel position always correspond to the same trim position (i.e., centered wheel does not always equal centered trim). I've also tried setting the second stick hat switch for trim (left=CT on/off, Fwd=Nose down, Aft=Nose up). The problem I've seen here is that trim control is intermittent, i.e., sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Anyone have suggestions? Thanks.
Mace
