I can't send you a PM - you have it turned off, so I'll just reply here:
Sorry for the long wait on a reply - been out of town since Thursday night.
I do fly with a Cougar, but could never get into Track IR when I can simply flick a hat switch on the Cougar to the same effect. I hold S3 down to change the hat back into a trim tab when needed - which is typically only in a bad situation - you are damaged.
Nothing beats a well set up Cougar though. I can do 90% of everything I need without lifting a finger off stick and throttle. If I really wanted to make it complicated, I could do 100% of everything I need on stick and throttle. There is no limit to what you can program into that thing or the macros you can set up. I just set mine up nearly exactly as the real aircraft however - with some minor exceptions - like no real need for the radio transmit buttons, etc., so I changed it to padlock, and the target management switch pushed to the left has no function in game (simply shows RCR count in real life) so I made use of it to change Radar to steerpoint/snowplow to help find ground targets easier. I had to guess the function of the CMS hat, but it is a counter measures hat, so the logical thing to do is use it for ECM, chaff / flares programs, etc. There are some other functions I implemented, but you get the idea.
The rudder is not really needed since you can set up the minijoystick that is on the throttle as rudder if you want, but this would be at the expense of using it for the radar cursors. Maybe you could set up button S3 so that when pressed, the microstick acts as rudder, and released, it acts as Radar cursors? THat is a do-able thing on a Cougar. However, I'd recommend looking at Ebay for some Thrustmaster RCS pedals though. They plug right into the joystick, so you would have 32 buttons with up to 10 axis. By the way, in the real F-16, the pilot never touches rudder - ever. The only time it is used is upon landing and takeoff. I read a report on this where the pilot scolded his trainee for touching the rudder in flight. The FLCS computer will do everything you need for you. Besides, I've experimented with the sim and after 250 to 300 knots, the rudder has no effect anyway. It is effectively disabled.
If you do buy a Cougar and want Rudder pedals, the biggest thing to remember is that you need 'analog' 15 pin rudder pedals like the RCS's. USB (digital) rudder pedals will not work.
If you want, I can record some dogfights in Falcon 4 so you can get a feel of what it's like - it's almost so addicting, you can forgo the campaign and just set up one on one dogfights against various aircraft for fun. This is best if you are trying to kill 15 to 30 minutes before the wife drags you out of the house. I suggest trying out an F-22 - you will quickly learn how unfair it is to fight this aircraft. You will lose over and over and over!
-S
PS. Falcon 4 is a highly complicated sim. THey say if you can fly this, you can fly the real thing no problem - as proven by the Falcon boys heading down to take on real F-16 pilots in real F-16 simulators - and the real F-16 pilots lost! Once you get it though, you will become addicted. Get the HiTiles pack for it too - its worth the $12.
PPS. Here is the manual -
http://www.speedyshare.com/811259640.html - go through it and see if it is a task you want to take on - it will take you 3 months to become proficient at it since all systems work like the real thing. Start with basic navigation, and then go through each weapons release setups. You have to learn each weapon you want to deliver. Last - learn to deal with situational awareness by taking on more than one MiG at a time in dogfight mode. Sooner than you think, you will get a rush going on missions over Korea or the Balkins (Just ask Awacs for updates on enemy positions frequently, and you will have no problem staying on top of the threat level). I still remember some, like a runway mission I did - set up for 6 releases at 500' intervals to bomb a runway, lined up on the runway, saw a couple of landing MiG on final, switched to dogfight mode on the cougar, shot down the first MiG 2 seconds later, followed closely by the second and then switched off dogfight mode back into the original mode I was in. I then pickled the bomb release for all six on the runway - with AAA fire and at least 1 shoulder launced SAM fired at me (missed) that I noticed - pulled away at low level/ high speed, then climbed out above 10,000 feet to get out of IR SAM range for a trip home. No other sim gets like this one!