I appreciate all of the responses, and to trotter I did attempt to choose my words very carefully to avoid the all but inevitable witticism that could be correlated to this thread.
Just to clarify, it isn't really an issue of "hand size" but more of precision. I am an old school gamer, and in the early days (back when I played Star Control I) I had a game controller that was only 4" high. It was way more precise, and requires a lot less hand movement, lending itself to quicker response time and agility. Adjusting the handrest doesn't address the issue, I am better with small precise movement and prefer smaller game controllers.
Consider the circumference of an imaginary circle drawn in the air by the top of the stick when moved around its 360-degree range of motion (like when you calibrate it). The larger that circle, the more movement, and time to make such movement required. I do much better when the circumference is reduced. Maybe the reason is that I work with electronics a lot, and must make very small, precise movements with the iron when soldering electronic components.
Remember the first Atari 2600 game controller? It was a very tall unwieldy thing and not very precise. Later they introduced controllers, mostly third-party, half the size and I was a lot better with them. It seems like the PC game industry has taken a step back going to big tall unwieldy game controllers again. I have tried used my Logitec Rumblepad which has to very short analog controllers, but they are too small, and spring loaded in a way that completely interferes with flight in AH2 (although they work okay for Bf1942 flight which is far from being an accurate flight sim.) The rumblepad lacks a throttle control also.
On my old Nintendo I had a game controller called The NES Advantage. The stick on that was just about right. It has long since worn out as well as the little adapter that allowed me to connect it to my PC, which is no longer manufactured.
Anyway, it is the measurement from the base to the top of the flight stick that I prefer reduced to about 4".
I will take a look at that Microsoft model recommended by Max, although I do cringe at the thought of paying for a Microsoft product… but when there's only one option then what has to be done, has to be done. lol
My wife also enjoys the flight sims and she has tiny hands - I often wonder what female gamers use - but there just isn't enough of them for the manufacturers to worry about producing a flight controller for.
