Help with Il-2 1946

So I got and installed this wonderful sim and to my dismay, I need some serious help with flying. I cant seem to even hold the darned thing steady in the air let alone hit anything, can anyone give me any good tips on pretty much any sort of flying shooting manuevers etc in this game?? ANd where I should download a good Third Party DCG from?? I see there is one in game but I heard that third party ones are better. Thanks. Casey