OK, don't seam to be able to get a "what I want" kind of response so will just post some of my experiences.
The first stick I ever owned was a CH Flight Stick (not pro, the normal one with two buttons). I used it for Red Baron and Aces Over Europe and the likes. It started spiking quite fast (which gives me another "bad experience" with CH).
After that I had a Saitek Cyborg 3D. It started spiking real fast, twist became lose and the stick was taken out of use.
I then found the Holy Grale amongst joysticks (bellow 200 dollars atleast and in some cases even against the 200+ dollar stick), I bought it in a store, the last one they had. It was a gameport stick but came with a USB converter, the stick was called "Microsoft Sidewinder Precission Pro 1". Now I am not the greatest fan of MS products or MS at all (stupid Xbox POS idea) but this is one product that beats every other competitor when it comes to "bang for buck". I could've easily payed 100 dollars and still considered it a good "bang for buck".
The Joystick never ever spiked, always precise, it really lived up to its name. I used it for well over 5 years (6 or 7 even) untill the hat finally became sticky and hard to use (to check 6 specially).
I checked AH time online (not counting Warbirds, Dawn of Aces, Fighter Ops and, Warbirds and Dawn of Aces H2H). The time I used that joystick was well above 2000 (!!!!!!) hours. Now, imagine how many times you spin a hat around in 2000 hours of fighting and you will easily see why the hat became a bit sticky and worn out.
My Brother is using the same joystick, bought a while after I did and used quite a bit less but it too is still alive after more then 5 years now. (some of those years in storage).
This is IMO THE best stick ever created and I know most (although not all) people will agree with me. I think Ghosth amongst others is still using it and love it. Not to mention that you can afford 5-10 of these compared to one CH or TM HOTAS.
I then used a Logitech (Logicrap) Wireless stick. The Hat broke down after a month so I got a new one, that hat was different and worked nicely (obviously they had discovered a design flaw) but I didn't like the fact that it went down in to "save mode" after 2 minutes of inactivity, this caused the stick to become uncalibirated after some "auto pilot climbouts" which got me killed.
After that I used a TM Top Gun Fox 2 Pro (I think) which worked well although I never grew to like it as I did the Sidewinder.
I now use a TM HOTAS Cougar and like it ALOT even though I have not modded it with any expensive 3:d party mods (not needed although many people say it is great to do so, of course, one needs another 400+ dollars to do so).
What I like most about the Cougar is all the buttons, this is the first stick that has allowed me to totally get rid of the keyboard (cept for typing) which means I can give full attention to the fight.
I also used a Saitek X36 for a while but calibiration problems and the fact that it was too big for me forced me to hand it back after 2 weeks.
If I ever get the chance I really wanna try the X52.