I had the opportunity to fly many hours in the XS-76 SHADOW flight research vehicle. We flew with traditional 2X cyclic (force controller) full motion collective and force control directional pedals. Next we flew with a 3X cyclic (twist the controller for yaw) and full motion collective. Lastly we flew with a 4X cyclic where up and down on the cyclic controlled the collective. One version back drove the collective so as you moved the cyclic up and down the collective would correspondingly move. This function was disabled with a collective grip switch (lemon squeezer).
The learning curve was pretty steep for all but the 4X control. Yaw control was easy to adapt to as this axis was well damped, much like the Seahawk or Super Stallion where pedal input requirements are minimal. 4X was a different story. The learning curve was very flat. Flying the aircraft everyday allowed us to gain proficiency. If we went a week or so without flying this configuration it was almost like starting from square one. If I has to put my finger on anyone issue it would be the inability to completely separate individual control inputs while doing simple tasks like approach to a hover.
All of this was flown from the front seat in the SHADOW. All in all it was a real kick in the butt. Some of the best flying ever.
