i think i have a microsoft sidewinder... it's about... at least 9 years old and still going strong, all buttons work and everything. I tried playing FS2 with a keyboard/mouse once (i've always played it with a joystick) and it was horrible. no control at ALL and turning around was a pain in the ass.
Anyway, I just bought this game, never played it before but I haven't played a fun WW2 flight sim since Red Baron, and although I've heard this game is a weeeee bit more realistic, I'm still hoping for a good time.

"Dr. Aliasalpha killed Colonel Mustard in the dining room with a joystick!"

Its a LOT more realistic (you can change the pitch of the propeller blades) but the good thing is you've got heaps of control so you can change it to be as easy as you like. I tend to play with what I describe a 'realism light' setting, enough to let you throw the plane around a bit more and not have to bother with things like oil pressure but not to the extent of turning into Blazing Angels or something equally arcadey.
Jets are the biggest difficulty I've had in the game, I have to get used to being gentle on the throttle, if you just ram it to100% you're on fire in seconds. Its also weird to not fly a turnfighter like the hurricane, I'm not as good at boom & zoom attacks

were you suspecting or accusing? Youre WRONG anyway, I killed Mustard with piano wire and then stole his clothes which somehow magically fit me (damn, now I fancy playing Hitman again!)

Thrustmaster's Top Gun Afterburner 2 joystick is excellent (that's the one I have now). Lots of features, and definitely not too expensive.
I personally don't like Saitek (too fragile)... Thrustmaster joysticks are usually VERY durable. Not sure about Logitech... I know a lot of people who like it, though.
My wet dream is, of course, a Thrustmaster's Hotas Cougar, but it's way too expensive for me right now. Who knows, someday...

You have no idea how long it took me to figure out what was causing my jets to spontaneously combust.

Yeah, I tried playing Allegiance with mouse/keyboard once. And the target drone in the tutorial killed me. So that was a bust.

From what I have heard it is as realistic as it possibly can be, considering it is only a game.
Any veteran IL-2 players that can verify or explain further the mechanics of this game?

He might love it... or not.
You see, civilian planes are quite different from fighter planes. Civilian planes are built to be stable, while combat planes are definitely more unstable, because it helps on maneuverability. Also, combat planes are built for combat, not for flying around (though you can do that, of course).
So, if your father likes flying AND "old-school" air combat, there's a very good chance that he will love IL-2: 1946. If he likes to fly without pressure, and without the need to fight his own plane and other planes, he might not like IL-2: 1946.
Has he ever played Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator? Cause if he did and if he liked it, there's a very good chance that he will LOVE IL-2: 1946.
So, in short: civilian flight sims and combat flight sims are considerably different. Liking civilian sims doesn't translate to liking combat sims, not necessarily.
I think there's a demo somewhere for the original IL-2 game... if you can find it, you can get your father to try it and see if he likes it. I guess that would be safer. ;-)

T-Y nice advice