Kitbag
Early light hels with bench seats required the driver to sit on the left because of the need for space for the collective lever, operated by the left hand. The second collective on a Bell 47 was recessed in a slot in the centre of the seats, OK for a back-up or instructor station but not for the pilot.
With the introduction of individual seats with space in between for the collective, it made sense for the driver to sit on the right so he could control the aircraft with the cyclic in his right hand and tweak the knobs, hold his coffee etc with his left with the collective friction on.
I attach an extract from an early flight test report on the Sioux!
The Bell 47G3-B1, known to the British Army as the Sioux and to the irreverent as the Clockwork Mouse, is the first genuine see-through aircraft ever to enter military service. Used in the observation role, the Sioux's built-in transparency is a triumph of helicopter design.
The early production models were built by a well-known Italian motorcycle manu-facturer in 1964 and represented 17 tireless years of development since the prototype first flew in 1947. It replaced a more modern aircraft, the Squitter Mk 12.
The cockpit layout is conventional, except that it accommodates the crew seated three abreast and is left hand drive. The central passenger may be replaced by a dual collective lever if prolonged flight in manual control is contemplated.