Salute!
Good points, 'bird. And I don't like all the mechanical stuff for feel that is a function of the FCC boxes and such. Seems very complicated. And I still hang on to some kinda mechanical failure right at the end game, as up until then the crew was able to trim with the switches and then have the 5 second delay before Hal trimmed nose down. Hell, it could have even been a thermal problem with that electric motor, as how many cycles in a 7 or 8 minute period did they test?
Any 'bus drivers here? Explain to us your "feel". From what we saw in the books few years back, it looks about like the Viper. In other words, none except for a spring!!! The pilot "feels" what the plane is doing for the most part. Of course, the 'bus pilot commands an attitude-corrected gee and a modified roll rate. But I can not find "force feedback" on the two sticks.
Gums sends...