Dual-control stick for aircraft

Abstract

A dual-seat control system for an aircraft provides an upright mounted at one end to pivot by actuation of a user near the other end. Cross beams extend from the upper end of the upright to positions in front of each user. The cross beams each carry a handle at an outboard end by which an operator can move the upright as a control stick in either a pitch-control direction, or a roll-control direction. The cross beams are free to move in one degree of freedom with respect to the upright, and are fixed in the other degree of freedom. Typically, the handle is attached in a manner to move in rigid body motion with respect to the upright in a pitch-control direction, while being free to move in a plane defined by the cross beam and upright at will, according to the desires of an operator. In certain embodiments, the handle may be required to be parallel to the upright in all positions, from a lower stowed position to an upper deployed position. According to operator choice, a control system may be secured to the upright to allow substantial movement (pivoting) by the handle in the plane defined by the upright and the cross beam. In other embodiments, the handle and upright may form extensions of the opposite legs of a parallelogram, thus moving in exact, congruency, separated by a distance in space.