[dacap06]

Bob,

I understand -- I'm an engineer, not a mathematician. Did I mention I was speaking theoretically?

Interestingly, designer's eye fits nicely with my experience, although mine works in the opposite direction. This is the sort of prep we would do when designing a new aircraft simulator. Once we had implemented the initial equations, we would get pilots who were rated on the aircraft in question to try the simulator out. Then we would tweak terms in matrix until they said it reacted the same. Sometimes we started out pretty close but sometimes the end result didn't look much like the start we got from theory. The latter situation was often the case when we were simulating the interaction of two planes close together, such as when refueling.