Here's an update on my story:
I now have MA working on my Win 7 64 bit machine, with Trackir and my X52 (mostly) working. Here's how:
1. A generous soul sent me a zip of his working install tree (base install), which I copied to my C drive (not in Program Files, but c:\Rowan\mig);
2. I then went into a DOS prompt, then to the install directory, and did the dir *.ocx command to identify the installed .ocx files. I then did regsvr32 for each of them, which gave me a message that each was then registered;
3. I patched with 1.23 and the latest BDG patch (BDG_MiGAlley_085F) - note I didn't use the F2 version, as I understand this is for particular machines, and I didn't set any compatibility for the patches before running them. TT2 didn't finish, but it doesn't seem to have caused a problem (yet);
4. I got some error messages when trying to open the Mig.exe file (using Win98 compatibility) including asking for the CVD (which was in the drive). I then did the no-cd fix which involves copying the smacker (video) folder from the CD to the c:\Rowan\mig folder) and then edited the "ROOTS.DIR" file (using notepad) and changed all references to other drives, to the installed location (c:\Rowan\mig);
5. Then she worked! With compatibility set to Win98 (more on this later) and 'run as administrator' I could get into the menu and set it up, including the Trackir settings (Trackir needs to be already started before you can 'tick' the Trackir checkbox in the setup).;
6. The first load time for a Hot Shot was long - a couple of minutes staring at a black screen. Be patient and don't give up. After a while there I was in the 3D listening to the calls of other pilots and "dentist";
7. Joystick setup - this took some doing. I have an X52 and while the controls setup menu identified it (twice as it happened - as X52 Flight Control System, as well as Flight Stick and Rudder pedals separately), it wasn't working in-game (keyboard only for axes, though stick buttons worked - rudder pedals didn't work). I copied some BoB stick and rudder profiles into the
Saitek editor and tried again. No luck. Eventually, I found that selecting the X52 Flight Control system, with the stick set up as 'X-Axis and Z-rotation' strangely, Throttle as 'Joystick Z-Axis' and Rudder as 'Joystick Z-Rotation', I could use the X52, with the twist rudder functioning. Nothing I did would make the rudder pedals work as intended;
8. I experimented with setting the Mig.exe compatibility to Win2000 and got an amazing transformation! Where loading into the 3D workd under Win98 compatibility took a couple of minutes, with Win2000 compatibility, it is immediate! Click on Hot Shots and I am immediately in the cockpit!
9. I need to play in 1152x864 on my 1440x900 monitor - I have black bars down the sides, but a sharp image that is better than stretched resolutions;
10. Hitting the M key for the map crashes the game (screen freeze) with a message asking me to install the CD. I'm going to investigate this some more.
So, all in all - it took a few hours, but I have it running, have messed about in Hot Shots without crashes, it plays all the videos and looks pretty good for an almost 15 year old sim.
I hope this helps some folk.
smith