Oh, I know what they are and they are hard to come by, hence the question.

There was a time - before Leo's interface - where people didn't know what to do with them, and they actually sold for quite cheap.
Now, you're lucky if you can get your hands on them for a reasonable price.
I am familiar with that link, but thanks for posting it. I have missed some updates.
Granbichus did quite a nice job on that Suncom Eagle.

+ 1.
Despite the needs for the mods to improve the working of the Cougar ( also i'm a nxt user with Cub pilot hall sensors), the Cougar with foxy its still for me unreplaceble.
My question is with the rudder control. Will it comes with a rudder device, i very much doubt that, in that case will they release a new rudder control not usb that can be plugged to the Hoyas Cougar or Hotas Warthog?
I would like that in order to avoid using a usb port for an external rudder device, like i have to do now.

Are there any drawbacks to that?

I certainly hope they are using the heart technology - I have their cheap-o T-16000 and that 40 dollar stick is a more accurate (gunnery in IL2) stick when paired with my simpeds than my cougar ever was.

It almost rivals my CH fighterstick as far as getting bullets on the enemy - but the CH edges it out because of distinct X & Y axis gimbals reduce unintended control input.

This warthog needs better gimbals too. If anything, base it off gimbals you see in high end full ball bearing rc plane transmitters - much like CH but larger and stronger so we can extend the shaft if desired.

If bearings make end product over price point then toss bushing the user can upgrade with common bearing sizes. If anything, the mod community has shown people want higher quality components. The cougar looked high-end on the outside and was anything but that on the inside.

Four bearings in a 300/400 U$ stick don't have significant impact in cost.
Don't make sense today, after many issues with Cougar gimbal don't move to bearings use.
Logitech G940 have four in stick gimbal.

We need josyticks with excellent internal quality, not only with beautiful appearance.

Sokol1

Yea, now that I think about it, I agree. Bearings are so cheap these days it seems silly not to include them.

Looking at rc airplane radios for example, many people go through the trouble of voiding their warranty on a DX-7 ($220 radio) to replace gimbal bushings with a couple bucks worth of bearings.

Yes, using more usb ports than needed, and with so many usb thing today, sometime you start to get short on them. I dont have a usb hub, and will not get one neither .
Also, when i dont use the hotas i unplug it, with the rudder i dont have a choice that plug them in the back on the pc, and i can't unplug them easily.

I'm certainly expecting they have learned their lesson. They must have had thousands of warranty returns because of the poor quality pots and poor quality metal, that eventually caused major center play. Those two things were the biggest issues with Cougar.

I agree with everything here including the last part as most important. When you deal with cheap, low quality, Chinese metal forge operations then you get cheap, low quality Chinese goods. When you deal with good price point, good quality Chinese metal forge operations you still get cheap, low quality Chinese goods but you paid more for them.

The problem isn't that the Cougar was bad. For me it was a super piece of flight simulation gear that lasted quite a while for the money I paid when it was released. However it was a shot in the dark as to which type of metal the insides were going to be made from. For me mine must have been made on a great day where they paid more money to Joe Chinese metal chemist than the other days because it has worked great up until now. Now waiting on funds to make a U2Nxt purchase for my second Cougar or should I wait on the Warthog to see what they put inside the sucker. Funds are limited to one or the other and not both.

This is what I'm interested in, more specifically how far along in the development process are they, it seems a lot of people are offering their $.02 about gimbals/quality but this may be all moot points if the Warthog innards are already a done deal. Advertising has already begun, albeit in the early stages, not even a concept pic released yet. Remember the bare aluminum Cougar?