Well, it's as close to a ship's wheel as you're going to get, and I don't use it for flight sims.
Where are you looking that they cost €300? If you look at the link I posted, you can see the price is £51, which is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than another wheel of similar spec.
And seeing as jbramscum is looking for a cheaper replacement for the ship control unit, this is much better than a joystick, and I don't think he wants to play flight sims.
I don't see why 90% of the forum aren't using this yet, there is no reason why they shouldn't...