I've owned and sold a Cougar, even after investing the time to rewire a set of CH pedals so that the toe brakes would work when plugged into the Cougar's rudder port. Many people, including the guy who bought mine, love the Cougars. I do not.
I now own a CH USB set-up, which I rate as superior in every way, except that there is just no denying the coolness of the Cougar's heft and (almost) all-metal construction. (Some would say that the fact that it is an "authentic" F-16 stick is a plus, but I actually prefer the layout of my CH Pro Throttle. I don't miss Cougar's rotaries and I really like CH's additional hat switches.) For a long time, the CH sticks were limited by very sub-par programming capability, but with the recent release of Bob Church's excellent CH Control Manager 2.0, the CH sticks can do anything the Cougar can do and more. In my view, CM 2.0 is much more flexible, powerful, and intuitive than Cougar's programming environment.
Cougar may be worth buying just to set on your shelf, but using it to fly is another matter altogether. As several users have noted, precise control around the center is difficult, if not impossible, due to the unfortunate confluence of two factors: center play and extremely stiff springs with a very high "break" force. Indeed, so much force is needed to move the stick out of its center play area that it feels like it has a center detent. Obviously, once you've exerted that much force, it is hard to stop stick movement near center to make fine adjustments. (If you've ever driven a non-power steering U-Haul truck with out-of-alignment tires and a four-inch play in the steering system, you have some idea of what it's like trying to fly with the Cougar.)
Control of the CH Fighterstick, in contrast, is quite light and precise. I'm pretty sure the play in my CH stick is less than in my Cougars (I've had two), but, in any event, it is insignificant because there is not a huge "break" force like there is with the Cougar. To be honest, I find Cougar's control so bad that I prefer my three-year old Saitek HOTAS (which, by the way, has HUGE play in the center).
It may be that the various mods available turn the Cougar into the uber stick that I hoped it would be. If money is no object, they might be worth a look. In fact, the Cougar has so much potential that I would probably pay $1k for a Cougar that worked as I expected it to work.
- JNOV
