Don't worry about being new, _everybody_ starts somewhere.
A sidewinder profile? Well, most games allow you to customise a few buttons how you like it, and that's about it. The sidewinder, however, is what's known as a programable joystick, which means that it has attendant software which allows you to program exactly what each button press does, including the view hat. Now, seeing as how Aces High already has an extremely flexible button/control set up, this means that you can set up your stick just about any way you please. In fact, it's quite feasible to make a couple of profiles, one for fighters, one for bombers, one for ground vehicles and so on, should you reaaly "get into it" and feel it's nessacery. On the otherhand, it cam all be a bit too much, and lead to confusion when you're just starting out. It's worth saying that you by no means *have* to use a stick profile, as the AH stick/key set up is flexible enough for it not to be really crucial, but it's easy. In any case, Microsoft sticks generaly perform better if the sidewinder software is at least running as it includes later drivers than Windows.
Still, that's all by the by. As a beginner, the most important things are (in no particular order)
Views out of cockpit.
Flaps
weapon selection
weapon firing
position change ( bombardier, front gunner, rear gunner etc)
Gun site zoom (you can push your nose up against the gunsite with a single button press for those long range shots)
Map
Map zoom
transmit key (if you use voice coms, and a lot do)
Auto pilot (there's three sorts)
As you can see, there's probably more there already than you've got buttons for, so be prepared to have a go at what you think's important, and to change it lots of times as you learn and your priorities change.
Lephturn's site has some good stick set up tips (
http://users.andara.com/~sconrad/),
and Flakbait's has some good "get you up in the air" tips
http://www.worldaccessnet.com/~delta6/index.htm You *won't* get it right in one go, it's an ongoing process, but it's not hard to fiddle with.
Lastly, film every thing, and watch it religiously. That's where you'll learn your mistakes, and how the other guys are killing you.
