Editing Joystick (section)

===History===
The electrical two-axis joystick was invented by C. B. Mirick at the [[United States Naval Research Laboratory]] (NRL) and patented in 1926 (U.S. Patent no. 1,597,416)".<ref>{{cite web|year=2011|title=A Timeline of NRL's Autonomous Systems Research|url=https://www.nrl.navy.mil/lasr/sites/www.nrl.navy.mil.lasr/files/pdfs/Autonomous_Timeline.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908010807/https://www.nrl.navy.mil/lasr/sites/www.nrl.navy.mil.lasr/files/pdfs/Autonomous_Timeline.pdf|archive-date=2015-09-08|access-date=2012-10-21|publisher=[[United States Naval Research Laboratory]]}}</ref>  NRL was actively developing remote controlled aircraft at the time and the joystick was possibly used to support this effort.  In the awarded patent, Mirick writes: "My control system is particularly applicable in maneuvering aircraft without a pilot."<ref>{{cite web|last=Mirick|first=C. B.|year=1926|title=Electrical Distant Control System|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1597416A/en|access-date=2012-10-21|publisher=[[United States Patent and Trademark Office]]}}</ref>

The Germans developed an electrical two-axis joystick around 1944.  The device was used as part of the Germans' ''Funkgerät'' FuG 203 ''Kehl'' radio control transmitter system used in certain German bomber aircraft, used to guide both the rocket-boosted anti-ship missile ''[[Henschel Hs 293]]'', and the unpowered pioneering precision-guided munition ''[[Fritz-X]]'',<ref>{{cite AV media |people=USAAF Wright Field Air Technical Service Command, T-2 Intelligence Department |year=1946 |title=WF 12-105, Captured Film, 'Fritz X' German Radio-Controlled Dive Bomb |medium=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1imE2GwDK8 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131074257/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1imE2GwDK8| archive-date=2014-01-31 | url-status=dead|access-date=July 24, 2013 |format=YouTube |time=13:45 to 15:00 |publisher=The Digital Implosion }}</ref> against maritime and other targets. Here, the joystick of the ''Kehl'' transmitter was used by an operator to steer the missile towards its target. This joystick had on-off switches rather than analogue sensors. Both the Hs 293 and Fritz-X used FuG 230 ''Straßburg'' radio receivers in them to send the ''Kehl's'' control signals to the ordnance's control surfaces.  A comparable  joystick unit was used for the contemporary American [[Azon]] steerable munition, strictly to laterally steer the munition in the yaw axis only.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=United States Office of Strategic Services |year=1943 |title=WW2: Azon (1943) Radio-Controlled Dive Bomb |medium=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qTTgn-PFuM | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205220405/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qTTgn-PFuM| archive-date=2013-12-05 | url-status=dead|access-date=July 21, 2013 |publisher=The Digital Implosion}}</ref>

This German invention was picked up by someone in the team of scientists assembled at the ''Heeresversuchsanstalt'' in [[Peenemuende|Peenemünde]]. Here a part of the team on the German [[rocket]] program was developing the [[Wasserfall missile]], a variant of the [[V-2 rocket]], the first ground-to-air [[missile]]. The Wasserfall steering equipment converted the electrical signal to radio signals and transmitted these to the missile.

[[File:Prototype Gemini Hand Controller.jpg|thumb|upright|A prototype [[Project Gemini]] joystick-type hand controller, 1962]]
In the 1960s the use of joysticks became widespread in radio-controlled model aircraft systems such as the Kwik Fly produced by Phill Kraft (1964). The now-defunct [[Kraft Systems]] firm eventually became an important OEM supplier of joysticks to the computer industry and other users. The first use of joysticks outside the radio-controlled aircraft industry may have been in the control of powered wheelchairs, such as the [[Permobil]] (1963). During this time period NASA used joysticks as control devices as part of the Apollo missions. For example, the lunar lander test models were controlled with a joystick.

In many modern [[airliner]]s, for example all Airbus aircraft developed from the 1980s, the joystick has received a new lease on life for flight control in the form of the "[[side-stick]]", a controller similar to a gaming joystick but which is used to control flight, replacing the traditional [[Yoke (aircraft)|yoke]]. The sidestick saves weight, improves movement and visibility in the cockpit, and may be safer in an accident than the yoke.