Originally Posted by
OldnGrounded
I think you're pretty close to the big question: Is it really only about stick force? If that were the case, why wouldn't it have been easier to massage some weasel words in the regs?
It doesn't work that way. Even if it did, it takes many years to change a regulation (it took the FAA over 20 years to finalize rules that covered HIRF for flight critical FBW and FADEC - before that everything was done via Special Condition). Furthermore, that's a harmonized regulation between the FAA and EASA (FAR/CS). So add a decade to get the FAA and EASA to agree on new wording (and that's assuming of course that EASA would go along with the change).
At best, it would have required an exemption to the regulation, which is all but unheard of for flight controls regulation.