When people ask on forums for the best controllers for simming the answers are invariably CH HOTAS and a Modded Cougar.

The comparison is apples to oranges. If you asked 'what are the best controllers for simming, with no after purchase modifications?' the answer is CH - it works out of the box and KEEPS working.

What is HOTAS?
HOTAS stands for 'Hands On Throttle And Stick'. The premise behind it is that a pilot in combat should not need to take their hands from their throttle and stick at any time. This allows a pilot to keep his eyes on his bandit, rather than risk losing sight and losing the fight when looking down to perform combat functions.

After discussions with many owners of the sticks in question it became clear to me that the Saitek was an excellent budget stick that wasn't going to last due to it's manufacturing quality - it gets sloppy and buttons break, the cougar was a lemon out of the box but excellent once modded, and every single CH owner I spoke to had nothing but praise for their gear.

The CH users were a much rarer lot amongst my circle of simmers so I decided to hit forums and ask questions - limiting respondents to those who own or have owned the CH USB gear I was considering. I could not find a single complaint and all owners seemed very happy. I decided to take the plunge, and over 3 years later I have not once regretted the decision.

The Hardware
My first impression was that they were BIG - bigger than I had expected.

	The stick and throttle are made of very durable heavy molded plastic. Both felt solid and tightly constructed with no detectable looseness. The stick has a long throw, and very light springs. The transition flats aren't really noticable unless you look for them. The stick features: 8 way hat 3x 4 way hats Single stage trigger 3x buttons Rotary wheel X and Y trim wheels The buttons and hats work in both normal and 'shifted' mode, doubling programmability. In addition there are three 'master modes' for the sticks - essentially trippling the programmability of each button and hat. This allows you to assign up to 138 different functions into the stick.
	The throttle is a sliding type, much like russian birds. One big design advantage of this is that there is no pivot point that will loosen through use. The throttle features: three buttons 8 way hat 3x 4 way hats Mini-stick The hats and buttons work the same as the ones on the stick, giving you up to 138 different functions.
	The pedals slide back and forth through a pivot system and also tilt forward for use as toe brakes. Two inserts were included to stop the sliding and allow the pedals to be used for racing sims. I'm of two minds about the rudders - I like them, they work, but they are a touch close together.

Installation
The installation was a snap. Plug it in and windows xp detected the devices. Before I knew it I had 3 controllers on the device list. This would be fine for sims that supported in game programming and multiple devices.

One of the strengths of the CH gear is it's programmability through the CH Control Manager software. This software allows you to manage the sensitivity of the HOTAS, provides a scripting ability for keystroke macros, and allows you to do very clever things such as creating virtual controllers who's input values you can control programmatically. For example, I can trim for straight and level flight by pressing a single button that takes the current input values of the stick and rudder and applies those values to the 'hands off' positioning of the controls.

You can combine all of your gear into a single device - great for support of older sims. Over the past three years I've yet to come across anything I wanted to do and couldn't.

My only complaint about the whole set is that the interface of the control manager software isn't intuitive. It will require a quick flick through the manual so you understand the 'concepts' behind Control Manager but once you have done so the layout and functionality provided proves to be very well thought out and logically organised.

Use
Over the years I've found the gear to work flawlessly. There hasn't been any noticable degradation in any of the components. The precision of the controls has assisted greatly when a dogfight has come down to two pilots jostling at the extreme edges of the flight envelope allowing me to remain in control indefinitely while my opponent struggles, and often fails, to remain in flight.

Developer support
The support of this product has been excellent. New versions of the Control Manager software is constantly being released, the manufacturer responds quickly to support requests, replacement components are easily available should you suffer a problem and a helpful community resides over at the CH Hangar who will help you with any questions you may have.

Conclusion
The CH Products HOTAS is well built, hassle free, reliable and fully functional. While a little pricier than others you can feel confident that you won't have to replace the kit any time soon. It is far more likely that the USB standard will go the way of the gameport than the sticks will stop working.

I am extremely satisfied with my CH HOTAS. It does everything I can think of. Its rugged construction and high quality components, backed by the experience of a manufacturer who makes industrial controllers gives a level of confidence you simply don't get from any other manufacturer. CH's reputation for reliability is well deserved and time proven.

Manufacturer's site