Found out how to make zoom work with my setting...
1 - go to option and assign another key to "mouse5" (have no clue what mouse5 means): just click twice on it and bind a key from one of your joysticks
2 - take off in your preferred plane and then:
* hold down your special key (see above)
* move your mouse back and forth (no need to hold the middle button or move the wheel).....and VOILA
you will be able to zoom in and out...
Now if somebody can make the throttle work for more than a minute...I would be happy