Any Cougars for sale? Or forget it and go for the warthog?
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Cougar needs constant repair and maintenance. Like real fighters are.
Uhm, no. Bought the Cougar when it came out. Replaced one 4-way-hat i broke during moving, cleaned the throttle shaft for smoother action and upgraded it three years ago with FCC3. Beside that …. not. a. single. maintenance. needed.
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Same here… bought my Cougar six years ago or so, stick has gotten a bit jittery in X but apart from that it’s still working fine (fingers crossed)
Uwe
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hmm, what I bought was already used one so that might be why mine has broken several times.
Since I got one, SPDBRK wire has fallen twice and I had to resolder, Brake pad became loose as I use the throttle so I added a washer to tighten up.
Microstick becomes drifting and I ordered warranty parts from TM and soldered to new PCB.
https://www.benchmarksims.org/forum/showthread.php?28607-My-Cougar-Microstick-Replacement -
I would venture to say that these “reliable” Cougars are abberrations? Even so, a Cougar HOTAS needs MORE maintenance than any other HOTAS, and that’s why TM has (or had) an active department selling replacement parts. While the Warthog’s reliability has yet to be proven and it did have some teething pains (bricked throttles for most, broken stick base for me), it still does not cry out for MODS!!! like the Cougar does.
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You could argue that many people who are more serious about virtually flying the F-16 have naturally gravitated to the Cougar over time. As the Cougar has been out of production for several years it is inevitable that wear and tear will have impacted many of them.
You could equally argue that people who own more expensive Cougars want to keep them working, so are prepared to fix them as necessary. If your cheaper plastic [insert brand here] joystick develops a fault you are much more likely to just bin it and buy a replacement.
That said I don’t think anybody would argue that Thrustmaster like most manufacturers builds things to a price in this day and age. As such they made design decisions that were based primarily on economics, opening up opportunities for the modding community to make improvements which are still available, such is the lasting appeal of this device.
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The people whoare more serious about virtually flying the F-16 have also most likely been flying for longer than the TM WH has been in existence and thus, they’d most likely already own a Cougar. The “new blood” would probably be the ones with the WH.
Pity TM never realized the vision of having multiple stick handles that you could swap out….
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The Warthog stick is far superior to the Cougar…both the grip and the mechanics. I use a Warthog grip with a several variations of Cougar TQS - one modded with a Bodner board that I use on a Mac, one with an RealSim TUSBA R2, and one as a full Cougar set.
Plan is to use the TQS from my full Cougar set in my pit, along with a Warthog grip and Arend’s pending Warthog FCC3. Then…I want to gut the Cougar grip and use it’s electronics board to make some other compatible center stick aircraft grip using a 3D printer, and use the widowed Warthog base to host that grip. If that works, I may buy up and gut a few more widowed Cougar grips on EBay and start making my own interchangables.
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I remember the first TM Cougar adverts, touting a removable grip with choices pending for the Viper, EF2000, Hornet. That never materialized, but the capability is still there. Such as this KG-13D and others…
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Warthog stick is nice but gimbal is crappy…
So just get warthog grip and base from bauer etc… cams etc
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Warthog stick is nice but gimbal is crappy…
So just get warthog grip and base from bauer etc… cams etc
I agree and disagree at the same time! The Warthog gimbals are excellent. They are very precise and appear to be well made, but they suck for controlling the Viper, especially for close formation work. If I have one gripe, they are a little on the “lightly loaded” side.
I think this is testament to the exceptional flight model BMS have created - the real Viper was designed to be flown with a force sensing stick and everyone I talk to with one all say the BMS Viper flies much better with it. My own personal experience says the same (I owned an FSSB1 Cougar in a previous life) although I only got as far as 4.32.7 with it. I’ve also done without cigarettes for a good number of weeks now to let myself procure another one.
The Warthog stock gimbals are perfect for flying (as an example) Jane’s Longbow 2 (yep, I still fly it regularly) - try this with a force sensitive stick and you’ll see what I mean.
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I still have LB2. Used to fly it up to last year.
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I agree and disagree at the same time! The Warthog gimbals are excellent. They are very precise and appear to be well made, but they suck for controlling the Viper, especially for close formation work. If I have one gripe, they are a little on the “lightly loaded” side.
I think this is testament to the exceptional flight model BMS have created - the real Viper was designed to be flown with a force sensing stick and everyone I talk to with one all say the BMS Viper flies much better with it. My own personal experience says the same (I owned an FSSB1 Cougar in a previous life) although I only got as far as 4.32.7 with it. I’ve also done without cigarettes for a good number of weeks now to let myself procure another one.
The Warthog stock gimbals are perfect for flying (as an example) Jane’s Longbow 2 (yep, I still fly it regularly) - try this with a force sensitive stick and you’ll see what I mean.
Nope , just open your warthog and you see…
Bad things : very hard center point, extension helps bit , without extension its horrible for helos or ww2 birds , no real stick has so “hard” center point.
Helos have zero center point , center is there but its butter smooth.
Cam based gimbals are way to go :
https://www.vkb-sim.com.ar/?lightbox=dataItem-iwfqbjqi2 or other same type gimbals.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Cam based gimbals are way to go :
https://www.vkb-sim.com.ar/?lightbox=dataItem-iwfqbjqi2 or other same type gimbals.How old are these compared to Warthog please? Warthog is six years old technology - obviously things are going to get better as methods and technologies get better. The Cougar was the dogs bollocks when it first came out, then the Warthog came out with newer better technology and made the Cougar look much less attractive. You are comparing apples and pears.
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I don’t think the gimbal technology is new… at least not 6-years-new. I think the choice to go with WH gimbal system has more to do with production and profits. Developing such a gimbal system would cost more, not to mention production of such a gimbal system would push the cost of the WH even further… as it is, a few simmers even think the WH is too expensive.
I’m happy with my stock WH and just learned to work around the center “clunk”. I think I also like the idea of the option to mod the WH, be it new gimbals or to convert it to force-sensing… kinda like buying a car. You can keep it stock and enjoy it, or you can customize it to your preferences.
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I still have LB2. Used to fly it up to last year.
I cant a way to LB2 work with any usb controllers…
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I cant a way to LB2 work with any usb controllers…
It’s fussy in that it doesn’t seem to like it when more than one joystick is connected. Works fine with a Cougar (for example when rudders and throttle are connected via the joystick) or Warthog stuff when Combined but throw more than one USB controller into the mix and it goes all to hell. Shame really… plugging and unplugging makes it a pain in the ass, and as a result is getting alot less love from me than previously. Still hoping/wishing Andy Hollis is working on LB3, especially since the Longbow sim project (Combat Helo?) seems to be a dead rubber now.