First off I want to apologize to CogSim for my wording. I had no intention of wanting to make the discussion a Yoke vs SS or an A vs B discussion. Only a commentary on hand strength and the predilection to prefer one or the other for precision…without detracting from the AF447 discussion.
No harm. I possibly didn't phrase my thoughts too well. I am convinced that with training and experience, the position of sidestick will make very little difference, if any, in the vast majority of situations. I was just wondering about very high stress situations in which the mind "reverts", if you will, to a state that is not well understood. This reaction to acute stress actually triggers physiological changes in the brain. Call it sensory overload, acute stress reaction, or something else. There are studies that take into account behavior under stress when designing safety related equipment. A trivial example is the design of fire exits. People tend to push to get "out" even when they are trained to evacuate in an orderly fashion. It is considered unsafe to have fire exits that open inward. I was just wondering if our ability to coordinate movements with our "opposite" hand is effected under stress. Or does it take more effort (mental focus) to achieve the same level of coordination? (Try using your mouse with your left hand (if you are right-handed) and see what it does to your overall focus.) Will one hand perform better in this respect than the other? To be clear, this is different from panic. It has nothing to do with the strength of one hand over the other either. It was a poor choice of words to describe the hand as "strong".