for software, I'm very happy with X-Plane, specially if you own a mac. For hardware, you could use an xbox joystic, but I would highly recommend this: https://yawmanflight.com/ - it's perfect for on-the-go and tbh much more convenient than a full yoke + pedals. I sold my yoke and pedals and now just use the yawman.
If you want to learn a bit more, there was a recent, really good Planet Money episode[1] about this exact same topic. They focus on the problems that you might face when using zip code for demographic analysis.
quick question: Your name is Marius and you're hiring for this startup and archiehub? (a few posts up). What's your relationship to both of these companies?