Rating: 
Summary: Thrustmaster Cougar
Review: If you are shopping around for a Joystick to play an flight sim with, then you might want to keep on looking. However, If you want to engage in all-out aircombat or want to pratice flying and want or need the best flight controller on the market, then you have found it!
There is NO second best compared to this kitten. The Cougar is in a totally different world.
The support is beyond anything you have ever seen! It is down and dirty, no holds barred. The good and the bad. Check it out!
You can't beat the price at Amazon.com either!Update! I have now put around 2000 hours on the Cougar as of Nov 2002. The Cougar is still going strong and I have not had any problems! That is around five times longer than I got out of the "Next Best" HOTAS on the market!
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY INCREADIBLE!!!
Review: Just Got my new HOTAS Cougar today and together with my CH Pro Rudder Pedals I've never felt a more realistic combination! When my CH F-16 Fighterstick and Pro Throttle started to give out I pre paid for the HOTAS and because they were out of stock everywhere I had to wait 2 months for delivery!! Nothing has been more worth the wait! The stick and throttle are so heavy and feel so real you wonder if someone just swiped them out of an un-attended F-16 on a Tarmac somewhere! If your not used to Thrustmaster Programing youv'e got some reading/desciphering to do but it's nothing once you get the feel for it and there are websites that offer downloadable templates too. Truly the best in it's field!
Have Fun, "SixKicker"
Rating:
Summary: TM Cougars: For Hard-Core FltSimmers and tech gurus
Review: Personal Testimony:
Well, Ive been into flightsimming since 1985. Ive owned every one of Thrustmaster's flight controllers since the: FCS/WCS, FLCS/TQS, FLCS-Pro/TQS, FLCS-Pro/TQS w/Dig Upgrade Chips, and now the Cougar FLCS and TQS controller set. All of these still exist are in working order in my "collection bin", except that Im using the Cougars presently.
I have not needed to fix the Cougars and Ive had them for about 2+ years now. With proper care (dust covers and keeping the dust off them), not beating on the stick & throttlem or hamfisting the little switches when using, proper electrical care when plugging them (they do contain electro-static sensitive EEPROM chip); they will last a long long time. These are not plastic like all the previous TM controllers, but rather are metal. Being in a Falcon4 flight sim squadron, I put in about 5-10 hours a week using the Cougars. So my Cougars have been used for at least 1000 hours and dont have a scratch or exhibit any spiking or other symptoms.
Reliability:
While it is true that many have bad pots and switches either from the day they were recieved or after 100s and 1000s of hours of use, the vast majority do not experience this kind of mechanical failure. TM will send you the parts for free if you write/email/call them. Yes, it did take about 4 months for me to get backup parts (I didnt need them yet). And yes, there are HALL Effect (electro-magnetic parts) to replace the moving pots (potentiometers) which make the controllers even more long lasting. This would be for those with the money and is very worth the investment if youre logging 100s of hours in your favorite flight sim.
Complexity:
Cougars are not for the techically challenged or timid flight simmer. You will have to know how to program in the TM button command file language (or just slightly modify the existing ones to meet your needs), know how to hook up your flight controllers to work with the Cougars, understand Windows controller utility, use the TM Command and Control setup software, use the FOXY stick file editor and Cougar maintenance software (which is super), understand flight controls as they relate to the aircraft you are simulating an how that maps to the stick buttons and axes, understand the complex flight sim (for hard core simmers that would be: Falcon4, LockOn, MS-FS, IL2 and others).
Support:
Thrustmaster controllers, and COUGARs in particular have a super user community of technologically adept users that are there to help world wide due to the web forums. (...).
With almost a 100 Falcon4 and LockOn online flight squadrons, which you can find with any inet search engine, there are lots of opportunities to get help and join a online flight squadron. The software and bios (flash micro code) is a free download, as are many user controller files. The negative side is that this is a French and Canadian business (Guillemot) that took over the American owned Thrustmaster company, so there are delays in getting parts and finding new units. One often has to find them on Amazon or Ebay (and I dont advise buying used ones as you may be buying a damaged set).
Value:
Or bang-for-the-buck? One movie date with condiments will cost you near $50 for about 2 hours of fun, or $25/hr. You will get 100s-1000s of hours with TM Cougars. Thats $300/100 or about $3/hour if you only fly 100 hours total (which is not very hard core flight simmer). Thats just the quantitative value. For the qualitative value you have the realism, full functionality and "feel". Realism wise, I own a real FLCS and TQS from a F16-A fighter jet. When you put the Cougars next to the real set, they are almost identical in form and function. In fact, the functionality of the Cougars are user definable due to their programmability - where as the real ones have set functions. Just put the Cougars in your hands, and you will feel the solid construction and will have as close as you can come to the real things in the palm of your hands.
Realism:
See for yourself, compare these real HOTAS from a F16-A with the picture of the COUGARs which emulate those found in a F16-C:
(...)
In closing, the TM Cougars have a steep learning curve and require care, patience, perserverance, technical skills and some serious bucks. They are clearly for the high end or "hard core" flight simmer. The CH Products Pedal Pro (gameport or USB) work well with the Cougars. If you want force feed back, I recommend that you instead get a MS Sidewinder Pro2 USB which is a stick, throttle and rudder with FFB all in one with limited user function programmability. Other sticks and throttles Ive tried like: Saitek and Ch Prod have their place, but must bow to the king of controllers: the TM Cougars.
Fair skies and check six,
AV8R
Rating: 
Summary: All show, no go
Review: Pros:
1. metal and sturdy (except throttle lever support which is plastic and actually broke on mine). Metal makes for great feel of the stick, much better than any plastic joystick. 2. Vast programming abilities (rivaled only by top competition equipment). This is, IMO, the best thing about the Cougar. 3. Impressive looks and design - a real stunner. Better than any other joystick in this regard. Cons:
1. Poor gimbal construction. The stick will inevitably develop center play which, in combination with stiff springs, makes the center position feel like a detent - this effectively denies any precision control near the center. A fix for this is available as a 3rd party product, but is costly - almost twice as the Cougar itself. 2. Poor quality potentiometers. With joystick this expensive, HAL (contactless magnetic potentiometers) are the way to go, or at least high quality potentiometers found in competition products. HAL potentimeters for Cougar are also available as a 3rd party product, but are costly (a kit of three is slightly less than 200$). 3. Sticky feel with throttle. The material has quite a difference in friction, which means it is hard to move the throttle, but once you do move it, it is hard to stop it in desired position. No precision here. If the resistance is lowered, the throttle lever falls forward/backward due to its own weight ! Verdict: A wannabe quality product which simply falls short in crucial areas. Requires significant additional costs to make it work as advertised. Definitely not recommended, as there are much better options out there.
Rating: 
Summary: TM Cougar...As advertised
Review: Reader, Happy..well..yeah! First let me say thanks to Amazon..the order got here as fast as the system allowed. Free shipping was not an excuse for "lets get it to the cusomer the last day.." To Amazon..I'll be back.. I am a very satisfied customer. Second did it work out of the box? Yes..as sdvertised Took all of 10 minutes to plug in and install..B-sure to read the pre-install notes before plugging Cougar into your computer. The hook up is sequence dependent and can be confusing if not followed. That 3 second task out of the way you can are off to wild blue yonder. These bad boy's ain't cheap so do your research.
Rating: 
Summary: So close yet so far....
Review: The only reason I bought the Cougar is simply because I knew they won't be making the "Cadillac" HOTAS's anymore. Not now that Guillemot has killed this particular market with its offering of the Cougar. Poorly manufactured in China, you WILL have to replace the pots (sensors that detect joystick and throttle movement) within a year or two. You WILL have to realign the speed brake switch YOURSELF because they're too lazy to correct the manufuring process. You WILL curse a blue streak when you realize the latest "drivers" are worse than anything Microsux could cook up for fumbling your USB. The joystick itself has a terrible clunky, ratchety feel to it. You can tell when you are in the middle of the X axis as well as the y axis. You shouldn't buy this product unless you realize it will take at an additional $450 worth of modifications to make it what it's supposed to be. This is for new sensors and new gimbals - i.e.: the heart of any joystick. For $250+ I'd go with a CH Products HOTAS. Don't kid yourself, this joystick is metal and therein lies the only piece of its worth. Makes a great door stop.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best
Review: The Thrustmaster HOTAS is by far the best flight controller system on the market today. All metal construction makes it unique in a field that is filled with plastic. The joystick and throttle each weigh in at 8 pounds and will not move off your desk no matter how hairy the situation gets. They are as real as you can get without having a plane strapped to the bottom of them. If you are s serious flight sim fanatic, then this is the system for you. Be warned though that while almost every flight sim that is out there right now is supported by the accompanying FOXY software, you may have to still do some reading and the manual is 183 pages long. :) The manual is necessary though, with the ability to program every button and switch to perform almost any combination of actions that you want them to, you need a powerful program to do that and FOXY is the answer. It has a very easy to use interface, a helpful help file (which many programs conveniently forget) and will even let you make a graphic of your joystick with all the functions you've assigned to the switches so you can refer to it (hopefully while you're still on the ground). Again, if you live for flight sims, then this is for you. If you are only going to use it every once in a while to frag your buddy, then I would consider a less expensive stick - unless of course you just like having the best of the best . :)
Rating:
Summary: The last flight controller you'll ever need...
Review: They are NOT kidding ... this IS the ultimate stick. There are some tweakings and make sure you get the software upgrades. This stick is not for the action gamer tho: it's a SERIOUS tool for SERIOUS flight-simers. I have adopted it for use in Mechwarrior 4 but you should get ligthter springs in the joystick for use with fine shooting. An alternative I have been using in the mean time was to set the response curve such that it was low near the center and high on the ends. This seems to help with fine sniper shooting but the lighter springs will be needed for best results for this type of game.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Game Controller ever!!
Review: This is one bad game controller, I say it is worth the price, it is fully metal including the bottons, thus the foxy software enables you to adjust the joystick to your needs for any Flight sim game (at least the once I have tested in). I am currently writing an essay on a few military jets this is why I got this controller, thus I am a big sim game. If you are a real fanatic of sims I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CONTROLLER, believe me you will not be disapointed. Oh one last thing, don't be surprised when you check on UPS tracking status and find out that the package weights 20.00 lbs!!.
Rating:
Summary: Works Great for a few months....then croaks!!!
Review: This is truly an impressive joystick/throttle combination. I was overjoyed when I got this as a gift. It worked great for the first few months of use. Unfortunately, the system fell into disrepair, mainly because of poor quality pots. This is a common problem with these units. After spending an entire day taking apart the throttle and cleaning the pots with jewelers glases, reinstalling the firmware and finally giving up, I am looking for a replacement. It REALLY BUGS ME to see what was spent on this item and see how shabbily it was constructed. LET THE BUYER BEWARE !!!
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