I'm looking for a good flight stick. I remember the old Sidewinders being awesome but they don't get made anymore.
Can anyone recommend something similar?

hehe, i was going to say my sidewinder pro is awesome, but then again its probably 10 years old and still works great. doesn't surprise me they aren't made anymore

I found one of those at a goodwill and I'd use it, if I used joysticks any.. sometimes I use my ps2 controller to usb adapter for a gamepad, but.. I think fs2 would need a joystick.

I have to say that I LOVE my Saitek X52. It does cost a little more but is very very refined.
It's a Combo with one Joystick and one Throttle so you might need some desk space. The joystick grip is adjustible if you have smaller hands and the joystick twist can be locked if you hate that function.
I've grabbed a couple of reviews if you wish to peruse
IGN
JusTech'n
I'm very happy with my Saitek X52.
Karl

The only downside to the X52 is that for most games you will spend some time binding buttons to your liking, reversing throttle settings, etc. If your just looking to get in and shoot some shivans, anything by saitek is ok and the Aviator doesnt look half bad. Otherwise X52 is quite nifty.
Such a shame how far the joystick market has fallen :(

I use a Saitek Cyborg Evo thingy.
The usual ranking I see, for casual sticks, is Saitek Cyborg whatever if you just want a stick, X-52 has a good throttle if you want to go all HOTAS, and if you want something realistic for realistic games, the Thrustmaster Cougar is something like 4kg of metal in the shape of an F-16 stick and throttle. Realistic, lots of buttons, and it'll stand up to a beating, but if you're playing games where you have to slam the stick from side to side regularly, you'll get quite a workout from it.
Of course, once you're using HOTAS, upgrading to a better version might not be as big an upgrade as something like TrackIR, but I don't know how useful that is in Freespace - FS2_Open allegedly supports.
I loved my old sidewinder. It's a shame I lost it moving house...

I would try using my Gravis Blackhawk Digital, but neither of my working computers has the 15-pin socket needed to plug it in. :(

you could try finding a usb adapter, that's what I have.

I've been using a Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital 3D for years (about 10) and it has always served me well. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure they aren't available anymore.
EDIT - After poking around the Logitech site, it appears that the Logitech Extreme 3D Pro is essentially the same thing as my old WingMan Extreme Digital 3D. The design is a bit updated, but all the same functions are there.

Sidewinder Pro USB is indeed a great stick mine still works fine.
Problem is for me, not enough buttons on the stick itself.
I am going to try combine it with Nostromo N52 keypad. Not decided what to do about throttle though as the throttle-wheel on the Sidewinder is nice, but if I'm going to pull other hand from base of Sidewinder and rest on the N52 then I'd want my throttle on left hand. However the throttle wheel on the N52 is pretty bad.
I think the next step up would something like Saitek X52 HOTAS kit. Nice throttle with lots of buttons for left hand and a good stick for the right. Most such setups are not lefty-friendly if that matters to you.

Another vote for the x52 from me. Still working on the profile, only thing you have to adjust in-game is binding throttle.

We have a joystick situation at my house. Picked FS2 up for husband for Xmas, but the only joystick we have kicking around is an old 15-pin Logitech Wingman used way back when for Wing Commander. (He tried playing FS2 with mouse & keyboard & didn't much like it.)
Question is, are we better off 1) buying the converter cable for the old Logitech ($15-20), or 2) buying a new Logitech Attack 3 for about the same price? The wrinkle is, we're both left-handed, and almost all joysticks I've seen online (and the old Wingman) are definitely made for righties. The Attack 3 seems to be the only readily available "handedness-neutral" model, though it's pretty basic. Are we missing some model out there in the under-$50 range that would work better?

I use a saitek Cyborg evo joystick and it works wonderfully. It is also left or right handed as all you have to do is unscrew the hand rest and put it on the which ever side you want. Its about £20 in england so It couldn't be much over $40 I wouldn't think.

Thrustmaster have a new HOTAS stick on the market.
Its called the T. Flight HOTAS X
had one for about a week and its amazing
was properly cheep too from amazon, £35