Thanks for your reply.
Sorry I was unclear. About the joy sticks, I use only one at a time, but I have two. So when I began having troubles, I changed one for the other to see if the problem was with the joystick. Since both had the same problem, and both worked with IL-2, I don't think the problem is with the joysticks.
As for the manifold pressure reference; I had the three Microsoft based flight sims installed on my computer, FS 2004, CFS 3, and OFF. The throttle controls, both joystick and keyboard, in all of these were no longer working. Eventually, after trying various solutions, I uninstalled all three. I first reinstalled CFS 3, and because OFF depends off it, I reasoned that if the throttle commands worked in CFS 3 they would work in OFF. That is why I referred to the manifold pressure dial. When the throttle is advanced, a surge appears on the dial and then falls back. The engine sounds advance and fall with the dial. The game's 3d throttle lever shows a flib forward and back with the engine surges. Oddly enough, the RMP dial doesn't react much to the manifold surges. I included this information, because it's the only visual reference I have of the symptoms.
I also reinstalled OFF/HITR, since I figured that was where I would find the CFS 3 Reset button, but using it had no effect on the problem.
Since none of the throttle commands work in all three games, the problem must lie elsewhere than the games themselves. Whatever allows the games to read and obey the throttle commands, either joystick or keyboard, has been disabled.
I hope you can help. I've really enjoyed playing OFF, but I've run through my bag of tricks.