Originally Posted by
Sir Korsky
95% of twin pax will be in the back where they belong ! I estimate there are around 45 IFR twin aircraft operating in the NYC area regularly - all two pilot S76/139/430/109/429 part 135, part 91 corporate and government.
So nothing to do with twin engine, just "don't have passengers sitting in the front 95% of the time".
Actually - I routinely don't have unqualified passengers in the front seat when the duals are fitted. Shortly after getting my license I did but within a year I had experienced two "slight" interferences of the controls (I was not smart enough to learn from the first). I decided that passengers can't be relied upon to appreciate how easy it is for them to restrict the flight controls, let alone move the cyclic / collective / peddles or inadvertently move switches, no matter how comprehensively you brief them.
Now, I'm not running commercial sight-seeing or photographic trips, so the loss of 1 seat is not important to me.