Control stick with spring

[Lawson Laslo]

on almost all planes that have center sticks, they have no spring and the stick just rests to the side when not flying, but i noticed in the l19 thats not the case, it has some sort of a centering spring and the stick moves and feels very nice? is there a reason other planes dont have a spring?
on most planes does the stick feel loose when in the air or does it have a spring feel?

 

[Lawson Laslo]

Any idea?

 

[Tarheelpilot]

on almost all planes that have center sticks, they have no spring and the stick just rests to the side when not flying, but i noticed in the l19 thats not the case, it has some sort of a centering spring and the stick moves and feels very nice? is there a reason other planes dont have a spring?
on most planes does the stick feel loose when in the air or does it have a spring feel?

They have more of an air feel in flight

 

[Bell206]

Any idea?

If I had to guess the spring might be some sort of force gradient to give the control stick some control feed back. Or maybe it was simply a military contract requirement? Normally, I've only seen force gradients used on hydraulically boosted flight controls like those found in most turbine helicopters. They've been as simple as a conventional spring or bungee cord to actual gradient assemblies that include an enclosed spring coupled with an electric trim motor or magnetic brake. Maybe send an email to Air Repair Inc in MS as they restore bird dogs.

 

[Hank S]

I've had cars where the gear shift was spring-loaded to the center. It was nice. My truck, whose shifter is four times as long, has no spring, so I have to make sure to wiggle it slightly right going from 2nd to 3rd. It was so much easier when I could just push it forward and the spring moved it to the right . . . .