Then I did a little googling and apparently a fan of the IL2 series has made a mouse-joystick mod for the game (not hacking or anything, literally just mapping joystick control functions to the mouse movement). War Thunder Sim Air may be pretty broken but one major good aspect of it is the mouse-joystick control option.
Thing is, I'm the stereotypical broke college student with no time for a job of any kind if I'm to keep up with my homework. Hence after talking with my squadron they're starting to turn me onto the older but far more polished IL-2 1946 Flight Sim. The DM buff has killed most aircraft for me save for a few Turn-&-Burn planes that can keep their guns on target well, leaving only Tank RB/occasional Sim as the only remaining fun parts of the game. The grind has gotten out of control and the devs have said NOTHING helpful about it. Constant buffing and nerfing of various game elements (including the damage model buff to all aircraft and hardened ground units) invalidates the point of even bothering to talisman vehicles in most cases.
I've always enjoyed bombers and strafers but in all modes they feel next to worthless or stupidly overpowered with no middle ground. I've been curious about trying a more serious flight sim because, long story short, while War Thunder is still fun the major issues are not getting fixed in the modes of the game I enjoy.