dirtyharry50: And reading comprehension is your friend. I was asking primarily about the controller I own which is NOT a 360. Pardon me for doing this crazy thing - asking a question on a gaming forum.
Reading the thread I've linked to would have answered more or less everything you've asked, not only your question about the 360 controller. Let me quote a few things from that thread:
"A joystick and throttle is recommended for the game"
and
"Best gamepad I've played it with is a Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2.
Mapped direction to left stick, y-axis on right stick is throttle, x-axis is rolls. etc. etc.
Not as good as a joystick, but still much more satisfying than a mouse."
The Logitech Rumblepad 2 is about the same as your Dual Action gamepad, so it should work for you as well. X-Box 360 controller does work with some tinkering, but I doubt it will be better for Freespace 2 than the Logitech gamepad you already own.