So far (touch wood) I haven't had problems with the Throttle Pot on my Cougar, though I did have some horrific spiking problems with my X and Y axis after about a year's use; both spiking and terrible transition shifts across the axis.
I guess that's why in the end I opted for IJ's UberII hardware mods with Cubby's Hall sensors. What a difference, the weight of the stick is completely transformed, probably a quarter of the effort of the original springs. Superb precision across both axis, and absolutely no spiking fluctuation etc.
All I have to do now is learn to fly !!!