I am seriously considering abandoning my Cougar. The throttle is sticking the centerplay is getting bad and I have no rudder pedals. All of this is fixable though costly (probably about $800 USD at the end of the day to put in hall sensors, fix the throttle, put in an UBER II gimbal (or FSSB) and buy myself a pair of rudder pedals). What I like about it, is that I know at the end of the day it will be pretty much bullet proof (sort of like my ecci wheel set).

What I am considering is replacing the set up with the new G940 from logitech. It seems like it has a lot of functionality, the force feedback is nice (especially for blackshark). My concern is the four year old factor.....what will happen to the throttle and stick once my 4 year old twins get a hold of it. Right now, I have no fear....I know they are not going to be handing me a busted off throttle, though my son did bring me the stick one time when it got loose from its base...lol.

Basically, I would like to get some feedback from new G940 owners and what thier first impressions are from a quality standpoint....preferrably if they were cougar owners beforehand.

I would say a FSSB mod and pedals you will get below 500USD, maybe 600. If you need to do the throttle also then 800USD sounds about right.

Truth to be told, if my Cougar wouldn't work so well I'd already be ordering the Logitech. Split Throttle, FFB and the Pedals are just a nice combo, there's no way around it. But arguable it's hard to go back from metal to plastic.

Just wait for the Saitek offering, it will be metal! I've had many friends who've broke plastic Logitech sticks before... Granted, not the new G940 but I don't like the track record. I own a Cougar, only thing that ever broke was a $12.00 gimbal. Ordered the part, replaced it myself and my Cougar is working great. It broke after 5 years of heavy service and a move. Though I do want to get rid of the centerplay on my Cougar, I will wait to upgrade the gimbals later.

Thanks Colonel and Argon,

Colonel....a couple quick questions about the FSSB mod. How long have you had it? Would you consider it 4 year old proof? Have you tried it in helo sims at all and what was your feeling on that?

Thanks again

I've had it since about this time last year, but you hit rightly the downside of it: It isn't for every kind of aircraft.

Helos, WW1 Combat and small GA Probs I now fly with the Saitek AV8R (I have no rudder pedals, so the Twist Axis is an improvement over the Cougar).

I know however people who like it for Helo sims. It is super precise, but requires quite a bit of force for large inputs (even if you dial the force down to less than real F-16 levels).

Now that I'm flying Aerobatics in FS9 again on the F-5 Tiger, I happily put away the Saitek and returned to the Cougar again. Just as it feels out of place for a WW1 crate, the Saitek feels out of place (and I was running out of buttons) inside a jet.

It is definitely 4-year proof. Nothing moves, nothing bends, as solid as the original Cougar or even more so. Will last 10 years.

But the caveat is equally strong - it fits not every person and not every aircraft. Primary reason I got that one (and not a gimbal mod) was the fact that the Gimbal mods seemed to require working with two or three different people and sending the Kitty halfway around the globe. And I still like the idea of a true "Force" stick, but only if the sim fits to it.

Sorry for the novel - not an easy thing to summarize since the FSSB is such a specific change of flying habits.

As I said above - any sane person would instead get the Logitech, save a bunch of cash for the next upgrade instead and get pedals too. But I know that I could only ever give up my Cougar if it was badly broken - too much of an unique thing it's been.

Thanks Colonel!

I actually appreciate the novel....gives me a good perspective of where you are coming from. Now I have to just determine if I am sane....lol

I have the FSSB and SaiTek (in my signature).

RSColonel summed it up, I think.

I think the FSSB is cost effective for a "sim-nut". Still, if a competitor can sell an assembled stick with the same characteristics a lot cheaper, I would look at it if I didn't have the Cougar FSSB already.

Another possibility is to disassemble your Cougar, buy Thrustmaster OEM replacement parts, and fix the issues. That will probably be dirt cheap and last a few years.

Well it looks like my decision has been somewhat made up for me. I went to try to fix up my cougar a little bit...basically try to address the sticky throttle and the center play in the stick. I had the bases velcroed in my cockpit and went to life the throttle out (something I have done several times) and I pulled the handle off....ugh. The plastic part of the lever came apart. I was able to glue it back together.....but I don't think I want to dump some money into something I had to glue back together.....so I ordered my G940 today....got my fingers crossed :-)

Well, that's the way my Cougar would go, if it was to go. Allen's point about fixing it with original parts was good but there's a certain point of no return.

I was actually a little sad, even though I was able to glue it back together. I had actually talked myself into working on the controllers a bit more and possibly buying the used simped pedals/FSSB mod being sold on this board and just scavenging the pieces I wanted. I am hoping the G940 really lives up to my standards....It should arrive today or tomorrow. Now I have to cut out my insert holes on my pit a bit more for the slightly larger stick and throttle. I will be sure to give some feedback as soon as I am able to get some decent time with it

In theory you could keep the stick at least, unplug the throttle and use only the G940 throttle and pedals. It's funny how we can get attached to a well-shaped piece of metal

This thread is about the hardware part of controllers, but don't forget about the software that controls that hardware. The Cougar software is vastly more capable that the G940's. Some people care about that, some don't.

More to come in a SimHQ article soon.

I agree about the programming part of things. The cougar software was extremely versatile. Unfortunately, I didn't use it at all aside from to program the setup as a DX device. I just don't have the time. I did program the heck out of my old F16 FLCS I had. I find myself more often than not just programming the actual throttle/stick functions from the jet/helo being simulated onto the stick I am using. I just have little time to fly so I try to make it as simple as possible.

I did receive my G940 the other day and just recently got it intergated into my cockpit. First impressions are that I like it....though I did second guess myself a little bit when I pulled out the solid metal construction that was my cougar.....lol

I find the throttle very smooth (which was one of my compaints with my cougar)....makes slight adjustments in throttle/collective possible. I did read about the throttle detents disappearing on one post. A couple things I noticed on these was when I increased the tension they were less noticeable and they are very subtle now. I am ok with this because I really wanted them not to be there anyways. The pedals are also very smooth....I actually backed out the "sticktion"...I prefer the center position to be barely noticeable and it is...which is nice. The feel much smoother than the old CH pedals I owned many years ago.

The stick seems decent so far, I haven't found a noticeable dead zone in the center. The forcefeedback effects seem informative without being overpowering.

I have had very limited use in the software, but initially don't find it terribly intuitive.

Time will tell how it holds up to my use and the "4 year-old" effect.

Thanks to everyone for providing feedback....thoughts

I want to know how precise the G940 is.

I have a cougar with gimbal + hall sensor mod, it has absolutely no dead zone or center play and couldn't possibly be more accurate. The act of placing my hand on the stick causes it to register input. Falcon 4 air to air refueling is a cinch.

The problem with my cougar now is the springs. It has no damping. The weight of the stick means there will be some overshoot when quickly moving the stick to a new position. Pulling some deflection and releasing will see the stick oscillate as a pendulum. It's very difficult to let go of the stick without a small amount pendulum movement (and yes, due to the now very accurate sensors, this gets picked up as input).

If the G940 has comparable accuracy, packaged with the right 'feel', for me it looks like to be the ultimate stick!

Sooo... can anyone comment on performing Falcon 4 air to air refueling using the G940?

PS: a bit of aluminum foil around the shaft of the cougar throttle fixed the stickiness