chopperpilot47:
On the Bell 47 for example you can fly either side, there is no prefererence mentioned in the POH. The starter is on the left however.
Not always. I've flown 47's that had the starter button up on the panel next to the mags. Early ones without a starter relay had a cable-actuated solenoid attached to that little lever on the floor at the base of the left seat that you had to press with the heel of your boot. Great fun when the cable would stretch.
The issue with the 47 is that the
fuel valve is just above the left-side collective stick, and it would be very hard to access if you had to in a hurry. That, plus the fact that the cyclic and throttle frictions are on the left sticks tells me which side Bell preferred us to sit on, whether they thought we'd be dumb enough to disagree with them or not.