Hi Tom!

As far as the sticks go... I actually loosen mine up from the stock setup. I could probably only 3D for two minutes if I didn't.... my thumbs would just get too tired.

Listen to anyone TR'n and you'll hear the throttle stick working overtime. Without the prop blast from the throttle bumps you'll be hard pressed not to fall out quickly. Which brings me to simulators.

Couple of things... you said you use one and can get 3 or 4 rotations sometimes. First thing... the sims are not realistic. They are great for getting the orientation right while TR'n. But, after that they might do more harm than good. With the sim you can just fix the idle (on certain models, anyway) and make corrections with the control surfaces. That will not work with a real planes. Second thing... I could TR indefinitely (5-10 minutes or until my thumbs had stick holes in them) on the sim before I could get even two rotations at the field. Now I have trouble with the sim (which I rarely play with anymore) but I can TR at the field for what sometimes feels like indefinitely (mostly until the wind blows me too far away to see anymore<g>).

As encouragement, though, alot of guys I know have been working on it for quite some time and still fall out immediately when the belly starts to come around to face them. So, you're not doing too bad. :-)

OTOH, my 14 year old is picking it up immediately... don't you just hate kids? ;-)