Fans of the flight simulator genre don’t have too much choice when it comes to joysticks – Saitek, Logitech and CH Products are about all you have. Unless you’re building your own cockpit anyway, but for most of us that’s not an option!

So if you’re looking for a relatively cheap joystick to get the most out of your flight sim of choice the Saitek Aviator (or AV8R) is a good place to start.The Aviator is unique amongst PC joysticks in that it has two throttle controls which can be independently assigned. You also get the usual twist rudder axis and 12 programmable buttons.

The Aviator is programmable via the Saitek SST software (pictured). This software essentially redirects button presses of the joystick to emulate keyboard and mouse strokes, meaning you can assign long complicated keyboard sequences (“Switch radar mode and select weapon” for example) to a single button press. You don’t need to use it if you prefer to set up your joystick via the in-game menus, but it’s nice to have the option.The software is quite intuitive, making what can be a fairly complex task quite simple.