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Old 3rd November 2011 | 17:01
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Genghis the Engineer
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I doubt very much it is a Socata simulator - to the best of my knowledge that company has never manufactured simulators. It will almost certainly be a simulator by somebody like Qsim, Merlin, Fasca... which is trying to simulate a Socata TB9.

The reason for my question is that different companies have tried to use different technologies to simulate control forces. Mechanical springs, pneumatic springs, electrical tensioners, hydraulic dampers.... Knowing what's there, and possibly knowing what's been used on similar simulators before, may make it possible to offer some useful advice.

In general terms however, giving approximately representative control forces in a GA sim is useful and achievable. The JAR-STD standards which, if you've not already looked at them, do encourage this, and rightly so - pilots use control force feedback a lot to give them direct feedback of aeroplane behaviour.

What is much harder is a truly accurate representation of control forces - for a start without some good FT data you don't actually know what those forces are anyhow (and whilst a PPL is a good start, you should be aware that light aeroplane control forces and control force harmonisation can vary a good deal between types - as well as with power, speed and configuration within a type. It's an interesting discussion point how accurate forces really need to be however - a literature review may with any luck give you some answers on that.

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