Well of course I did do that multiple times (including holding shift while pressing pause) - I did mention I could fly the A10 & F15 (which also requires hitting pause)...correct?
Anyway, I just discovered the fix to my problem. Apparently, after making control adjustments, saving that to a standard profile, then applying that standard profile to all aircraft - causes some of the planes to have an empty list for their control assignments. Fortunately I was able to save the Mig29 list (which was still populated) and apply it to the rest of the Russian jets.