In the Radio Control airplane world it is common to use exponential stick scaling for pretty much all advanced flying. All those guys you see performing precision aerobatics to the guys doing the wild 3D stuff use exponential.
It provides for a "soft center" type of feeling which allows for precise minute amounts of control movement while still allowing for 100% control movement.
I have noticed that different sticks have their own "scaling" and even if you prefer a linear responce profile, you may want to tweak your settings to achieve that. The calibration tools in AH are simply the best of any flight sim I have ever played and is probably somewhat under-utilized to it's full advantage.
I run a fairly aggressive curve as I find it helps tremendously on those "straight 6" type shots. My joystick is a bit tired and it helps to smooth the inputs a bit as well. I'll probably take a smidge out of the curve when I get a new stick.
g00b