Using a digital flight stick as my primary joystick

[gutterstuff]

Hi Everyone,

I'll be building my first MAME cabinet in the next little while and would really like some feedback on my ideas. I'd like the opportunity to play twin stick games (Virtual On, tank games) emulators while still having a functional bartop cabinet for fighters, platformers, shmups etc.

In order to reduce the amount of clutter on the board, I've been thinking long and hard about using the flightstick casing and buttons reviewed below as my 1p and 2p joysticks, but potentially with a Sanwa or Zippy stick base, as I hear that they're a little more responsive.

Flight Stick:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=129546.0

Sanwa:
http://www.canadianjoysticks.com/pre-summer-sale/

My questions for all of you are:
1) Outside of the cord travelling down the shaft, both sticks have the same basic technology, right? Would assuming that Street Fighter would work just as well (technically) with a flight stick as it would with a joystick accurate?
2) Feeling and form-wise, would the extra size of a flight stick impede your fighter or platform experience as a player?
3) To your knowledge, are there retailers out there who are willing to mix and match parts or would I likely have to buy two sets of each stick?
4) Finally, do any of you have hands-on experience with the Sanwa or the import flight stick? What are your thoughts?

[yotsuya]

The trigger button on those wears out really gast.

[gutterstuff]

Interesting. I picked up two of them from the Playdium store in Canada, and will prime myself to replace the trigger not long after :/