Thanks for all the replies. My biggest problem is my 60 hour work week, which leaves little time for the steep learning curve of AH. Last night I experimented with the scaling the stick waaaaaay back, and it seemed to help, yes more in the pitch & yaw & rudder than in the roll, which in AH is pretty good around a fixed point anyhow. I have more work to do on it. The off line drones don't start evading like you guys do when I'm saddling up on 6!
My stick IS USB, btw; if this doesn't work out, I'll try it through the gameport.