In an earlier post I wrote about forces acting on the joystick I use for flight simulation. After learning about
torque, however, I noticed that there is also torque involved in manipulation of flight controls. When my hand is in the normal position I use for flying fixed winged planes, I apply a force of F, which varies depending on how much and at what rate I want to bank/yaw (as mentioned in the earlier post, the more I want to bank/yaw, the more force is required because of the spring), multiplied by the
lever arm distance (about 12cm with the base acting as the fulcrum and the middle of my palm acting as point of push force), to create a torque of 0.12F Nm. When hovering in a helicopter or flying in formation, I must make very minor adjustments in my flight controls and there is no room for me to be ham-handed with my controls. I learned a while ago that it is much easier to make these fine adjustments by resting my wrist on the base of the controller (Real helicopter pilots rest their hands on their thighs, since their control stick is usually in between their legs). This not only allows me to apply much less force on the controller, but also significantly decreases the lever arm distance. Since torque is directly related with both lever arm distance and force applied, the torque I apply is also lessened, thus lessening the chance of me over controlling the aircraft.
In an earlier post I wrote about forces acting on the joystick I use for flight simulation. After learning about torque, however, I noticed that there is also torque involved in manipulation of flight controls. When my hand is in the normal position I use for flying fixed winged planes, I apply a force of F, which varies depending on how much and at what rate I want to bank/yaw (as mentioned in the earlier post, the more I want to bank/yaw, the more force is required because of the spring), multiplied by the lever arm distance (about 12cm with the base acting as the fulcrum and the middle of my palm acting as point of push force), to create a torque of 0.12F Nm. When hovering in a helicopter or flying in formation, I must make very minor adjustments in my flight controls and there is no room for me to be ham-handed with my controls. I learned a while ago that it is much easier to make these fine adjustments by resting my wrist on the base of the controller (Real helicopter pilots rest their hands on their thighs, since their control stick is usually in between their legs). This not only allows me to apply much less force on the controller, but also significantly decreases the lever arm distance. Since torque is directly related with both lever arm distance and force applied, the torque I apply is also lessened, thus lessening the chance of me over controlling the aircraft. 
