What's with the joy sticks?

[Scotch]

I flew with a South Paw H-2 Pilot in the Navy and he loved setting in the right seat. He could do everything a right handed pilot could do AND write legable notes on his knee board w/o removing his right hand off the cyclic.

I think there were a couple if WWII fighter's with yokes but the P-38 and I think the Mosquito are the only two that comes to mind.  Oh, what about the......um... the one the Russians loved so much.

I'd rather have a yoke but if someone were to turn me lose on a Carbonaero I'm sure I'd adjust.

[OTTOL]

I've had this argument with left-handers in the past & will most likely do so again. Maybe OTTOL will confirm it but I never heard a pilot complain about the position of the controls on an aircraft. I worked for a flying school for 2 years & the fact that a pupil was left or right handed never occurred to me & I don't remember the subject cropping up.

The joysticks on most WWII RAF fighters had a "spade grip" which could be held comfortably with either hand. This was important on aircraft like the Spitfire where the pilot had to change hands on the stick just after taking off in order to raise the gear.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the good fortune to fly anything new enough to have a joystick. I have flown a Pitts(with the classic center mounted control stick)and the transition took, literally, seconds!  Similar issues have occured with yoke equipped aircraft though(dealing more with position of the pilot, not the controlling device). When training for the CFI, the biggest issue focused on, is the transition from left to right seat. After about five to ten hours though, it's back to buisness as usual. The same occured with transitioning BACK to the left seat in a jet after flying as a First Officer for 3 years. Again the transition was quick and painless. I think Loomex's point sums it up best. Most of us fly our computers with a joystick. Most of us are quickly able to adapt to change involving dextrous adaptation. I recently read that 80% or more of our manual flying skill is learned in the first 10-20 hours of flying. Obviously it doesn't take the body very long to learn some new tricks.

[Hagar]

Unfortunately, I haven't had the good fortune to fly anything new enough to have a joystick. I have flown a Pitts(with the classic center mounted control stick)

The old-fashioned centre-mounted control stick is what I've always thought of as a joystick with regards to an aircraft. This was the origin of the term in the first place. I think that game controllers being commonly called joysticks causes some confusion. I'm almost sure there's a correct technical term for the control input devices used on modern fly-by-wire aircraft but I forget what that is. I've seen some that resemble the sticks on a R/C transmitter more than a gaming joystick.

I taxyed various types of light aircraft every working day for some 2 years & also flew them occasionally. Some had tandem cockpits where the controls were set up the same in both & others had side-by-side seating. Both types had a conventional joystick between the legs. I don't remember a problem with the left-hand seat in side-by-side trainers where the controls are basically reversed - with the throttle in the centre. As I always tell left-handers - they don't make left & right hand drive options for aircraft. You have to get used to what you're given.

If you think about it, the same applies to cars. When I've been in the US driving a car is like being in the left hand seat in an aircraft. It takes only a few minutes to get used to it.

[OTTOL]

The old-fashioned centre-mounted control stick is what I've always thought of as a joystick with regards to an aircraft. This was the origin of the term in the first place. I think that game controllers being commonly called joysticks causes some confusion. I'm almost sure there's a correct technical term for the control input devices used on modern fly-by-wire aircraft but I forget what that is. I've seen some that resemble the sticks on a R/C transmitter more than a gaming joystick.

 Did someone say "bonnet"?   Once again culture throws a wrench in. I've always considered a "joystick" to be a short little plastic or composite controlling device, but then  again years ago I argued with my father that "conventional" meant tricycle gear as opposed to a tail wheel aircraft. Of course I later learned that I was wrong. But that was a matter of age. I grew up in an era when tricycle IS the conventional style. So I think THIS is a matter of Generational as well as geographically influenced syntax. I DO think that SCOTCH was referring to the current definition though(ref. his picture).

[Hagar]

[quote]

[Craig.]

Hagar, most pilots who fly airbus aircraft call them sidesticks, so you are correct in believing they have a differant name. but i guess its just a personal preferance.
if i am missing some sort of sarcasm on your part, i appologise in advance:)

[Hagar]

Hagar, most pilots who fly airbus aircraft call them sidesticks, so you are correct in believing they have a differant name. but i guess its just a personal preferance.
if i am missing some sort of sarcasm on your part, i appologise in advance:)

Ah thanks Craig. That is indeed what they're called.

I would hope that I'm never sarcastic. I might take a little pop at people sometimes but only in fun.

PS. As I understand it, the term joystick originated during WWI.

Even the word joystick, which is used more around computers these days, is actually an aircraft term. In early biplanes, the controller wasn't a steering wheel, it was an upright rod in the middle of the cockpit that controlled movement in three dimensions. It came up between the pilot's legs. The reason the they called it a joystick was because it was well, standing erect there right between the pilot's legs and gripped in a very similar way as if you had ahold of your, umm, you know, a joystick!

My point is that if this is correct, it would be wrong to call a sidestick a joystick.