Isn't the general consensus here that force feedback is unrealistic?
Maybe I've read the wrong threads or those comments were from non-
pilots?

I've taken the flight sim thing as far as money will allow (see our
Kiwi at:
http://www.alexisparkinn.com/flight_simulator.htm ), and can tell you
that force-feedback sticks are cool, but not terribly helpful in a
flight sim -- mostly because (to my knowledge) no one makes a force-
feedback yoke/rudder pedal combination.

I have used Force-feedback sticks in combat sims, and they are very
cool -- but I don't fly fighters, and our Kiwi is set up to replicate
GA flying. (It's a prototype of sims we want to put in at the Iowa
Childrens Museum, as part of a major aviation exhibit...)

If someone were to come out with a Force-feedback yoke, I'd probably
buy it, though. The concept is a good one, but apparently it's MUCH
harder to incorporate in a yoke.

As for whether flying a sim is "real" -- our Kiwi is flown by real
pilots every day at our aviation theme-suite hotel. Pilots from all
over the world have checked it out, and -- although it has obvious
limitations -- it's as real as you can get without leaving the
ground.

The main limitations are (in order of importance):

- No peripheral vision. Even with a 104" projection screen, it's
still like flying a real plane whilst looking through 4" PVC pipes.

- No feedback. In a real plane, if you pull back on the yoke too hard
you know at once to release the back pressure because the G-forces
tell you. In the sim, newbie non-pilots routinely overstress the
planes, simply because they don't know how hard to pull. (Real
pilots, of course, have a built-in sense of what not to do. They,
therefore, don't ever run up against this limitation.)

- No motion. This is less important than you might believe, as your
brain substitutes for the lack of motion. That big screen has made
several people motion sick, without them ever moving an inch.

In the future I want to add a side window screen that will go a long
ways toward addressing the lack of peripheral vision. The other two
limitations are things that can't be addressed for less than a million
bucks...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"