As both a pilot and an engineer, I submit that the ergonomics and design of this switch are excellent. It may be esthetically displeasing to some, but it is actually quite a bit safer, simpler and less prone to error than plain old toggle switches. If you don't fly piston single aircraft, fixed or rotary wing, you may not have a full appreciation of this.
- All the functionality you need in one switch. No need for four separate switches (key, left, right, start).
- System state is clear, unambiguous and forced to be sequential.
- Start (or prime) automatically puts you in BOTH.
- Intrinsically resistant to inadvertent movement, no need for "lift to move", switch guards or other mechanical safety features that have to be designed, provisioned, and operated.
In the Raven II, Robinson was actually quite clever by using the traditional start position for prime and providing starter buttons on both the cyclic and collective. They could have left the switch as-is and provided a separate electric priming switch. Instead the design more easily allows for an in-air restart in the unlikely event one has time for such things during the auto, and is more "turbine-like". It would be nice to see this design carry over into new Raven I's and R22's.
As you can see from the photo below, the shaft of the switch is keyed with a notch which prevents it from turning in the panel as the panel hole has a matching stub that goes into that notch. Thus panel legending is no better or worse than a separate legend ring that fits over the switch shaft.
As a rule (there must be a few exceptions) I can't think of modern single engine piston that doesn't use the rotary switch. Things get more complex in piston twins. For instance Cessna twins use plain old toggle switches while Beech twins use two rotary switches.
