One question though. I mentioned trying to line up with a fuel tanker and how the delayed movement was throwing me off. My guess is that this behavior was due to slow control surface movements. My question is if JSBSim simulates control surface movement speeds (excluding the flaps which do) or is the control surface deflection always exactly equal to the control input?
Hinge moments for control surfaces probably have something to do with it, but remember also that you're flying a heavy, fast plane. Even if the plane is very responsive to control input (which has more to do with aerodynamic damping effects than control-surface response speed), you're not going to be able to change the flight path on a dime.
All other things being equal, a plane that flies twice as fast (say, because of heavy wing-loading) needs twice as much time and four times as much space to make a change in its flight path -- that's why a little Cessna or Piper can start its landing flare over the runway itself, while a transport jet has to start flaring at least a half mile back (pulling up the nose at the last moment would only change the attitude in which the jet smashed into the runway). Jet fighters turn fast only by pulling ridiculously high G-forces, and even then, they need a lot of time and space to turn around.
I'm sure that inertia has a lot to do with it as well, but I don't know enough about physics to describe those effects.
All the best,
David
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