Left or Right?

[Mobius]

Does anyone know if you can request custom airplanes with a stick for the right hand and throttle for the left?  All the joysticks for computers are right handed so I've been flying with my right hand for years now and personally find flying with my left hand quite awkward.  I know that the Air Force Academy has Diamond DA-20s where the pilot sits on the right, and I was just wondering if anyone knew if you could buy those or not.

Thanks.

[Craig.]

i doubt it. Its not the problem that most people think it is. If your learning to fly in a cessna or piper warrior, your using your left hand to fly and right to control the throttle. You dont notice it.

[beaky]

Most production aircraft with side-by-side seating have dual controls , with the throttle, etc. in the center to avoid having to duplicate all of that as well as yoke/stick and rudder pedals. Typically one sits on the left, but there's no law against sitting on the right. A bigger problem might be that more often than not, the panel is laid out so that the critical instruments are laid out on the left side, but that could be customized by any avionics shop.

[Hagar]

This is one reason the yoke became popular. On fly-by-wire aircraft like the Airbus series the captain has no choice than to hold the sidestick in his/her left hand.

[C]

This is one reason the yoke became popular. On fly-by-wire aircraft like the Airbus series the captain has no choice than to hold the sidestick in his/her left hand.

Having said that though, the pilot probably only needs to hold the stick for maybe 2 minutes of the flight, and in any case, even in the times of auro-throttles etc, the LHS pilot will fly with his left hand on the stick/yoke and right on the throttles...

Anyway, flying with either hand is fairly easy, and in some cases quite necessary.

[Mobius]

Yeah, I've learned to land however was comfortable for me so I do approaches with one hand on the throttle and one hand on the yoke but when I get to the point where I cut the throttle, I put both hands on the yoke to round-out, flare, and touch down.

[beefhole]

I do approaches with one hand on the throttle and one hand on the yoke but when I get to the point where I cut the throttle, I put both hands on the yoke to round-out, flare, and touch down.

And I've learned that that's a GIANT no-no.  Go figure.

[Mobius]

And I've learned that that's a GIANT no-no.  Go figure.

I know what you mean, if you need to go-around or something, you hand isn't right there, but, trust me, you can get it there pretty fast if necessary.

[TacitBlue]

If you want to get a left handed joystick, then Saitek makes one that is reversable. Its called the Cyborg graphite, its really cheap, but it is saitek. I completely dismanteled one to make my rudder pedals, and it didnt appear to be low quality, but it only costs $20US, so you gotta wonder.

[beaky]

And I've learned that that's a GIANT no-no.  Go figure.

Definitely a bad idea to take your hand off the throttle anywhere in the pattern, including climbing out or landing. You need to be in the habit of doing that, for that time when you really need to make an abrupt change in power.

[beefhole]

Definitely a bad idea to take your hand off the throttle anywhere in the pattern, including climbing out or landing. You need to be in the habit of doing that, for that time when you really need to make an abrupt change in power.

My point exactly

[Mobius]

Yeah, my instructor told me whatever I felt more comfortable with.  I do keep my hand on the throttle pretty much until touch down, but I do see your points.  I've had to do go-arounds, and I've been in situations where quick response was needed and I haven't had any problems.  But, the flight examiner I took my checkride with would make you keep your hand on the throttle through-out any climbs during the flight and I just got into the habit of doing that, does anyone else do that?

[beefhole]

Yup, you do it to ensure that full power is in, and it's not sliding back (has happened to me)-I've been taught that it is NEVER acceptable to take your hands of the throttle except for two occasions-when in cruise flight, and when I'm using that hand for a chart, radio, itch, pick, etc.