I'm trying to setup a Brunner CLS-E yoke in the most realistic way to mimic what the yoke feels like in a real B738 and now I would like to know how turbulence affects the yoke in the real aircraft.

Will turbulence normally only affect the aircraft itself where you as the pilot use the yoke to correct for that or will turbulence also have a direct effect on what you feel in the yoke meaning you can/will feel how the yoke spikes to the left/right and up/down in your hands for example?

From an engineering point of view you should not be able to feel the turbulence through the controls. With hydraulic power on the 737's control surfaces cannot backdrive the control yoke. If hyds are off then the surfaces would react to turbulent airflow (as well as aerodynamic loads) and move the yoke.

Makes sense what you say, thanks!

The bigger problem that you didn't mention is the very unrealistic manner that turbulence is applied by the simulation.  There is  a good discussion of turbulence in the 777 Introduction if you have that product.

Yeah, still lots of things we can only hope will be addressed one day.

Until then I guess we can only do the best of what we have today and that's what I'm trying.

The jump to the Brunner yoke from my old CH yoke certainly was a jump in the right direction!

If the autopilot is engaged you can feel the yoke moving with the autopilots corrective inputs as the airplane is getting bounded around, but beyond that you don't feel anything caused directly by turbulence itself.  If the autopilot isn't engaged the yoke does not move unless you move it.

The only time you ever see any feedback motion of the controls is on the ground with the hydraulics off.  In that situation the yoke will flop back and forth if it's windy.

1 hour ago, JoeDiamond said:

If the autopilot is engaged you can feel the yoke moving with the autopilots corrective inputs as the airplane is getting bounded around, but beyond that you don't feel anything caused directly by turbulence itself.  If the autopilot isn't engaged the yoke does not move unless you move it.

The only time you ever see any feedback motion of the controls is on the ground with the hydraulics off.  In that situation the yoke will flop back and forth if it's windy.

Thanks for the confirmation, much appreciated!