Going to try to build helicopter pedals that appear to X-Plane as a Joystick.

I had to purchase a Arduino Leonardo, because only this model can appear to a Windows machine as a Joystick. Arrived today from Amazon (keyestudio), about $15.

Tom Stanton did something similar, using Hall effect instead of a potentiometer.

Arduino Joystick 2.0 Library Shows use of Arduino Joystick library, including means to rename device to allow multiple USB devices

How to Build a Button Box Shows how to wire 4 rotary encoders and how to multiplex switches to allow more buttons than input pins.

Purchased 10 from Amazon for about $8.

49E Hall Effect Datasheet