The CAFE report on the small tail 320 mentions the very low "stick force gradient" as
a problem. The stick force was found to be almost neutral at the rear CG limit.
As I understand it the gradient is much higher in the Legacy,
and about halfway in between on the large tail 360. 

I seem to remember
Greg Heinze of HPAT telling me the SFG numbers for the three models
on the phone...but I have since forgotten the
values he quoted.

I understand that a low gradient is a problem since the pilot has no feel that
he is pulling hard just before stall. Perhaps worse, in the stall, just releasing the stick pressure does not
unstall the A/C.Rather, the pilot must calmly place the stick forward....preferably without inducing PIO, despite
the adrenaline load.

I don't know much aerodynamics but I am familiar with second order differential equations.
Having tuned servo systems, I would be wary of nuetral stability.  Wouldn't INstability be right around the corner?
Am I right about this?

The recent long debate on CG ranges has not so far discussed this. What is
the role of stick force gradient in this debate?

--
Jeff Peterson