Ok In an airplane....Such as SEL(single engine land) the PIC (pilot in command) of the airplane generally sits in the left seat, but in Rotorcraft (helicopters) the PIC generally sits on the right?
2006-07-01 18:49:27 · 5 answers · asked by Brian S 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
Same reason. Most people are right handed. Early airplanes didn't have side by side seating. When they went to that, they put the pilot on the left to match up with where we sit when we drive. These aircraft mostly have control wheels, and people are used to the wheel in the left hand. But even with fixed wing aircraft, anytime a stick is used, throttle position is set up on the left to put the stick in the right hand. Helicopters use a stick and cyclic, which controls throttle and pitch. since most choppers have two pilot positions, a single cyclic is put in the middle and the pic sits on the rright to have the stick in his right hand.
2006-07-01 20:23:35 · answer #1 · answered by theatre.dude 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋
There are many reasons for this. First, as someone mentioned earlier, if for easy access to the instruments, on many smaller aircraft the bulk of instrumenation is on the left side, for more modern aircraft the instruments may be on either side and it does not matter the side, yes tradition has much to do with it but it is more common sense, the PIC needs to see the instruments. As helicopters go, the PIC is on the RIght in many (not all) instances, this is because when flying a helicpoter you must be flying all the time and the easier (smarter) control to let go of is the collective (up/down) This gives your left hand the ability to adjust the instruments as needed. Helicopters that have panels in front of the pilot/copilot, the pilot will sit on the left, mainly because of preference and the whole passing on the right thing. Back to planes, the student pilot also sits on the left side and stays there because of comfortability, Most would not sit in the right seat because they would have to get used to doing everything the other way, left hand would do what the right hand had to do and vice versa. Hope this helps.
2016-03-27 00:51:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The pilot in some fling wing aircraft sits on the right side because in a crash, the rotor blades can cut through the cabin on the left side. At least that is what I was told by one pilot.
Being a pilot myself, I have flown from both the left and right seats. But the instrument panel on SE aircraft are set up for the pilot to sit in the left or #1 seat. Most TE acft have full panels on both sides now but in years past didn't.
Also flight patterns around an airport are normally left hand which puts the pilot in a better position to see the runway and other aircraft in the pattern.
Other than these reasons I have no Idea why fixed wing pilots sit on the left side, and I have been a pilot for many years as well as an A&P mechanic.
2006-07-03 16:47:30 · answer #3 · answered by pinelake302 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answers above will suffice... but here's another piece of trivia for anyone who's interested: In a military helicopter such as the AH-1 Cobra and AH-64 Apache, which seat does the pilot sit in, front or back? Might come as a surprise to some of you that the pilot sits in the back and the weapons officer is up front!
2006-07-02 11:10:37 · answer #4 · answered by ProFlyer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The automobile and plane developed at the same time. Since car drivers were on the left, the plane makers followed the same layout.
2006-07-02 09:22:26 · answer #5 · answered by lana_sands 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋