I had a CH stick before, and I'd take my Warthog over it any day. I'm sure Joach1m would tell you the same thing... it's just a matter of preference I guess.
Agree as well- Hotas/Stick wise over time my preference will change. CH was great for me for a long, long time, in AH for playing a lot of hours as it's very, very light and easy to move. Once you get used to the Warthog however, IMO it's more precise and accurate. Then you go to the Virpil T50 and gimbals like it and the VKB Gunfighter has/will have (hopefully), and it's an even higher degree of precision. Blade posted some stuff in Hardware doing stick tests with his VKB Black Mamba, it was pretty impressive, and the T50 is about the same for me. I'm pretty certain the Gunfighter from VKB will be similar or better.
One issue a few may have with the TM Warthog or perhaps read about is the sticktion thing, but it shouldn't put anyone off of buying one. The "fix" for this is extremely simple, and once you break down the WH base and apply some of the various remedies and regrease/etc, it's excellent. This is only if it's even required in the first place, I have 3 TM Warthogs and 2 Cougars, and only 1 of them, my first Warthog, has run into the sticktion issue, and it was pretty mild prior to going through the Youtube/sim forums treatments.
TM is still working on the new F18 HOTAS, should be pretty cool, and I hope they build in some forward/backward compatibility with the WH sticks/base. VKB is working on an F14 MCG grip for the Gunfighter to go along with the Russian type stick currently offered as of Dec 1.
Lots of options for sticks/Hotas/pedals out there. Anyone looking for custom pedals shouldn't overlook the VKB pedals either, they are substantially less $ than the MFG (I have both and the 109 Slaws), and are all metal construction. Much different type of motion, many including me find it more precise than the CH/MFG/Slaw type of movement, but this is personal pref obviously.
