On 27 Feb 2005 18:51:37 -0800, wrote:

John Giddy wrote:


Just to return to your original question, what caused you to suspect
that gliders needed power assisted controls ?
AFAIK, there is no power assistance in the common Cessna and Piper GA
aircraft, unless you are using the autopilot. Am I wrong in this
assumption ?


It seemed to me that if there was enough mechanical advantage in
a joystick, no one would ever have bothered to design with a
full-length control stick. The latter takes up more space and
weighs more.

I get the impression that there is a semantic problem here. If by
"joystick" you mean something like the toy used with a PC for a flight
simulator, I might be able to see your problem. However, in my
experience in the gliding movement, "joystick" means any control which
operates the control surfaces, and doesn't have a rotary wheel or
"yoke". The length of a joystick can be anything from about 9 inches
to a couple of feet, depending on the glider, so there is ample
capacity to arrange suitable mechanical advantage if needed.
I see you are going to take up the suggestion to visit a glider field
and have a trial flight. This will clarify your understanding better
than long rambling text like this :-)
Cheers, John G.