I personally use a Saitek ST290 Pro with Saitek rudder pedals. If I am flying a C-130 or other yoke based airplane, I will use my Saitek yoke and throttle quad. One thing that really irks me is when you join a server only to NOT get a pilot slot, but by some rookie using keyboard and mouse. There is no axis on a keyboard and it's a hellish ride for the passengers. In my opinion as a skillfull pilot in the game you need to be smooth on the controls. I was in a blackhawk trying to lay fire down on an infantry line and couldn't get one damn shot because the helicopter was all over the place. A good helo pilot knows to use anti torque correctly at safe speeds so that you can yaw to open up a wider area for gunners to shoot.
I am a real life pilot, and I also fly flight sims alot. I enjoy both sides of the game, ground and air. My forte is obviously air, and if you cannot use your skills and situational awareness your just crippling your team.
I have been looking into mapping the throttle/collective right for joystick axis, the fde (flight dynamics) on these airplanes and choppers are quite damn good, the problem is that the throttle is using only 50% of the axis, there is a work around that someone had mentioned on another thread can't remember where I saw that.
edit- here is that thread. http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=108410