Budget is sort of around USD 800 -1000 for throttle/stick.
Wow, that Hotas Combo is a serious contender! Build quality sounds excellent + some great features/specs. I'm glad i mentioned helicopters. The fact i could swap between collective and throttle from the base is an awesome feature, looks like all of that fits within budget too. i'll look at a few vids/reviews about it.
Went with the T FLight pedals, at least for now, found them as a pack with the matching throttle + stick for less than what the pedals retail for! They're all as new condition! I see what you mean about them feeling quite slim though Keed.
I had not seen that the Apache quick start guide had been released! That a massive amount of pages for a quickstart, i wonder what the main manual will get to! Ah well, i had better start reading. Is the DCS Apache something you're looking at getting Keed?