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Windows Joysticks and Yokes
No joystick is required. You can fly with the mouse or numeric keypad. But to really be realistic you need a joystick or yoke.
On the IBM, you can use any joystick, yoke, or rudder pedals that you can calibrate in Windows. (Go to "My Computer", "Control
Panel", "Joystick" to calibrate the joystick). Any joystick you can buy for IBM Clones can be calibrated in Windows, so what we are
really saying is that you can use ANY joystick, throttle, and rudder pedals with X-Plane for Windows. Be sure to check out the flight
mode screen in the x-plane "settings" menu to see what other peripheral hardware is currently supported.
Macintosh Joysticks and Yokes
No joystick is required. You can fly with the mouse or numeric keypad. But to really be realistic you need a joystick or yoke.
On the Mac, you may use CH-Products, Gravis, or Thrust-Master joysticks for version CLASSIC. For version 5.52, ANY joystick will
work. CH-Products and Gravis have the upper hand in quality, with somewhat higher quality bearings and springs for a more precise
stick. Gravis makes no rudder pedals, though. But this should only matter a lot if you are flying helicopters or you are planning to do
crosswind landings. CH-Products also has a cool USB yoke ("Flight-Sim Yoke", at www.chproducts.com), which will work with XPlane 5.52, and should deliver a very high-quality hardware interface. Using that yoke should be just like flying the real plane if the
real plane is yoke-operated (as opposed to stick-operated).
Author's Recommendations
If you want a full set-up with ergonomics just like the real aircraft, I recommend a CH-Products Flight Sim Yoke with CH-Products
rudder pedals. This will give you yoke, pedals and general ergonomics of the real aircraft if the real aircraft is flown with a yoke.
If you are more interested in flying aircraft that are stick rather than yoke operated (such as fighters and helicopters) then you should
probably get a CH-Products FlightStick and CH-Products rudder pedals.
Finally, if you want to run tight, lean, and simple, without tons of hardware on your desk, get the CH-Products GameStick 3D.
Despite the name, this stick provides a ton of punch in a small package: It has a few buttons to hook up to trim and landing gear or
whatever you like, and rotates in your hand to control the rudders pedals (or anti-torque in helos) as well! This gives you total control
in one piece of hardware because it does not clutter up the desk too much.