Using quaternions in fight simulator

[RobCh]

How do I use quaternions to determine the change in rotations about the xyz axis based on control column left-right and up-down?

This seems to be the most complex part of the flight simulator. Can anybody who has experience in this field just provide my with these few lines of code?

It just needs to take:
virtualx (the left-right control column movement, with left as -1 and right as 1)
virtualy (the up-down control column movement, with down as -1 and up as 1)

And manipulate:
rotx (the rotation around the x axis in degrees (or rads, it can be converted)
roty (the rotation around the y axis " ")
rotz (the rotation around the z axis " ")

I have been working at this problem for ages and am getting no further. I just need the code, and have only six months left.