I do not claim to have used the “correct definition” if there is such a thing at all.
For me personally, a “centre stick” is centered with my “view axis”, meaning right in front of my body, between the legs. A stick mounted left or right of my body would be a “side stick” in my vocabulary.
The Glasflügel (and DG) stick travels horizontally for the elevator and tilts in roll. I have never flown a Cirrus to compare :-)
I guess it is really a case of personal preferrence even though some planes with almost similar controls feel very differently.
I “grew up” flying C150, PASE and AN2. All have yokes. Are they similar in feel? Not very much. It’s like comparing a Mini Cooper to a 40 ton truck.
Caravelle and Tupolev 154 have yokes. In the Caravelle you can use quite big movement without much effect. The TU flies like a fighter even though it is much heavier and the controls feel heavy too, i’ve wondered why it’s pilots don’t have Popeye underarms.
Or the Airbus sidesticks compared to the Cirrus. I’ve flown the A320 sim for quite a while and it was super easy to fly, great control feedback, total pilots airplane (when everything works, I hear it’s different when degraded). I’ve had very few stick time in an SR22 and felt it was quite heavy for a single side stick, not at all the same feel as the much heavier airliner.
When I started flying the Mooney I was at first very surprised at the heaviness of the controls (not unlike the AN2). For the first hours I did not like it at all. Once I started flying it alone it started to come together and today I love it for it’s stability and feel.
Basically, you will need to spend time in an airplane to see if you like it. 2 hours intro flight won’t do anything. Conversion training and 10-15 hours solo you start getting the idea. If you still don’t like it by then, it’s not for you.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
I was at first very surprised at the heaviness of the controls
Yes, the forces needed is ultimately more important to the “feel” perhaps.
