Control Damping Idea

[jhausch]

I was reading threads about stick forces and IFR flying in a -6, -7, or -9. The use of a wing leveler makes good sense to me, but I had a thought I wanted to share.

I was wondering if one could attach a small air cylinder* (not a gas spring) to the controls with a two position valve that either allowed the cylinder to "breaths freely" or "breathe restricted". The breathe-freely position gives light stick forces. The restricted position gives artificially heavier forces.

Thoughts?

*This sort of cylinder

[Vern]

I fly an RV-10 and a 6A IFR. They do fine,especially with autopilots. Since they aren't broken, I would not recommend a fix!

Besides, when you are VFR manuevering, you would be hindering the primary feature of RV's-control response and balance. Even though your device has sort of an ON/OFF feature, you would introduce complexity and a point of failure into a proven system.