1 Yes and the most recent patch also introduced compatibility mode with other xbox games, so you can use it for star wars squadrons and such, too.
2 You can take off immediately, although I later changed the rudder sensivity ingame and the input sensivity in the stick menu and esspecially disabled the touchpad.
The numbers of the picture in came however do not correspond to the button numbers assigned when scanning.
It comes with two keybind presetw in MSFS, for helicopter and default.
One of the lates firmwares also added support for the turtle beach rudder pedals.
3 People like to complain and youtubers get more clicks (and hence mroe income) with an alledged scandal (see the “factory fresh PS5 burns due to leaking coolant” story).
I would take such reports with a grain of salt. My VO flightstick so far did not crash the MSFS and I keep the firmware current.
You need to install the Turtle beach app on either laptop or xbox to update the firmware.
It is definetly an improvement over the standard controller, but I suggest mounting it on a surface you can put holes for the screws through (I use a couchmaster or a laptop cushion for the sofar).
If it is the price, you still can go with the Thrustmaster Hotas One. But here also the buttons shown do not match the buttons assigned and it has no left hand mode like the Velocity FS.