Rusty Cougar?
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I’ve stumbled across a local ad for a Cougar along with a some RCS rudders for a reasonable price.
However from the photos I see that the stick screws are all very rusty. And so are the screws on the pedals as well. The ad also indicates that this is from a deceased estate so the seller probably won’t be able to answer specific questions I may have. I suspect it must have been stored in a damp garage?
With local I mean in our country where Cougars are extremely rare. But it’s on the other side of the country so it would be a blind purchase.
Should I be concerned about the rust I’m seeing? Could this be an indicator for other issues? Given this situation, what would you do? Leave it alone? Or make a bid - but to what price?
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I’ve stumbled across a local ad for a Cougar along with a some RCS rudders for a reasonable price.
However from the photos I see that the stick screws are all very rusty. And so are the screws on the pedals as well. The ad also indicates that this is from a deceased estate so the seller probably won’t be able to answer specific questions I may have. I suspect it must have been stored in a damp garage?
With local I mean in our country where Cougars are extremely rare. But it’s on the other side of the country so it would be a blind purchase.
Should I be concerned about the rust I’m seeing? Could this be an indicator for other issues? Given this situation, what would you do? Leave it alone? Or make a bid - but to what price?
Rusty screws itself not an issue. If possible ask the seller to send you pictures of the stick, throttle and rudders with the bottoms opened so you can see better inside.
I replaced my own Hotas screws a while ago since that start to get rusty. Replace them by Stainless steel screws.
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I would probably not personally pay a premium for less than ideal stock - anything over 250 AUD is definitely not money well spent, and it may be worth (much) less again.
Id be cautious as to the quality of the electronics inside if the screws are rusting. Wires you can replace when needed - my own stick has needed replacement wires on more than one occasion, and it is not a stick afflicted by rust. PCBs are a lot harder to replace…
If they let it go cheap, maybe it could be gutted for spares for another stick? The grip itself is probably fine, and the pots and switches/buttons may be good enough for that use too.
If they want a premium for it, Id save the money and spend the difference on shipping… if its going to cost, you may as well pay for one in good condition.
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If no one else bids, I should get the set for ~180 AUD excl shipping.
As expected the seller knows nothing about these as they weren’t his so it would be a right gamble.
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Best of luck with it. I guess thats it, it is going to come down to whether someone else bids and what the internals are like.
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This is what the gear looks like, haven’t seen any bids yet:
I’ve asked for photos of the internals but I’m not sure if I’ll get those.
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Looks fine to me really. I wouldnt be too worried about it. If you do get it, Id recommend having a look at the flyfoxy website - some preventative maintenance tips on there might help you a lot.
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Do you have a front pic of the throttle to check the serial number?
Yep looks fine. See mine here below. All screws have been replaced.
But to be sure wait for the internal pictures, but go for the buy in my opinion.
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I’ve asked but I don’t think the seller is going to take it apart for some pics on my request.
He is selling a lot of stuff from the estate so it’s not like he’s just selling the Cougar by itself.The minimum bid is about 180 AUD, I’ll just put a low bid in. I for sure won’t go for the Buy Now price of 300 AUD.
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Much to my surprise, there are now some photos of the internals - having never owned a Cougar myself, I can’t see anything immediately wrong (PCBs can still be dead but that’s what you get with remote purchases of used stuff)…… Is there anything concerning visible here?
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Judging by the stick gimbals I’d say that set has very little use on it !
Dave
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Looks good to me, although Id still suggest a force sensing mod
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I will need to win the auction first!
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I will need to win the auction first!
Tazz judging from my experience.
Good things i saw:
1.The Hotas was never been completely disassembled since the red wax on the hexagon nut is still intact.
2. The gimbals are very good, the aluminum itself looks almost brand new with minimum use.Bad thing i saw:
1. There is a missing guidance bushing in the throttle rod, ask the seller if its just missing due the pictures disassembly or is just not there at all.
Other than that seems fine. If still in doubt ask the seller a picture of the hotas plugged in with the Cougar control panel in a computer Prt Sc, just to make sure that the PCB is fine.
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Tazz judging from my experience.
Good things i saw:
1.The Hotas was never been completely disassembled since the red wax on the hexagon nut is still intact.
2. The gimbals are very good, the aluminum itself looks almost brand new with minimum use.Bad thing i saw:
1. There is a missing guidance bushing in the throttle rod, ask the seller if its just missing due the pictures disassembly or is just not there at all.
Other than that seems fine. If still in doubt ask the seller a picture of the hotas plugged in with the Cougar control panel in a computer Prt Sc, just to make sure that the PCB is fine.
Nah, it’s not missing. I think that it’s on the right edge of the image, just not sat in the guides.
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The rust on the exterior iron screws is likely due to humidity. Internals are less susceptible to this for enclosures such as the Cougar sets. They arent hermetically sealed like youd want near salt water environments (like and island or beach area), but for years of sitting with air conditioning and seasonal humidity, it should be OK.
The pot wipers might get some oxidation, but that will wear off with use and tuner clearer if necessary. The rust can easily e removed with steel wool, then paint them black or clear coat so they dont rust again.
The lack of wear on the knobs and hats show limited use. If the stick slops to a side and doesnt center, thats a sure sign of gimbal use. Dont see that here. The tqs has some ring finger scrape marks which would stop me, but thats picky and prissy me. I wont buy or use this worn equipment.
Make sure you instruct how to ship it so the knobs, hats and tqs arm survive
Good luck. -
The pot wipers might get some oxidation, but that will wear off with use and tuner clearer if necessary. The rust can easily e removed with steel wool, then paint them black or clear coat so they dont rust again.
Or just buy new stainless steel ones. Much more easy.
The tqs has some ring finger scrape marks which would stop me, but thats picky and prissy me. I wont buy or use this worn equipment.
Are you married? My TQS is full on small scraps. I wear my ring all the time. Not wearing pilot gloves
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What are you waiting for? I’d bust a move on this set if I were you. The Micro-stick hat or the Antenna Pot is mucho worth it……I know those parts can be purchased for cheap, but I’ve not seen one person point me in the final direction to source one. I’m usually pointed to a web page that has four thousand different pots to choose from…TM used to email out documentation to help with that but they haven’t responded to me twice now. Get it, then put in the FSSB and be done with it.
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@16th:
What are you waiting for? I’d bust a move on this set if I were you.
I’m waiting for the final 2-3 minutes to put in my bid as there’s no reserve on it and the buy now price is $100 USD over the start price. Shipping this thing isn’t going to be cheap so I will need to keep my bid low in order to keep things reasonable here.
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And…… MINE! :blowpar:
Thanks guys, I’ll let you know what she really looks like when she gets here. A new Cougar owner joins the pack