Why does the Captain sit in the left seat?

[stephenboyd9396]

Whilst sitting in the crew room I got chatting with a few other crew members and the question came up;

Why does the Captain sit on the left in an aircraft? Is it just tradition or is it a technical reason.


Does anyone know the answer?:rolleyes:

[BOAC]

So he can watch the 'totty' as it boards in AGP?

[Capot]

Most sensible answers might be spoilt by the fact that a chopper Captain sits on the right, perhaps because that's the side the door usually is, so he can see what's happening....

[AppleMacster]

From the PPRunNe archive:

Capt on the Left (http://www.pprune.org/1091622-post3.html)

Applemacster

[Bob Lenahan]

Well, jeez, if he sat in the right seat he'd be the co-pilot!
Bob.

[javelin]

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."


:ok:

[Exaviator]

I think you will find that it is another one of those traditions that have been passed on from the navy - like four bars on the captains tunic. In the days of sailing ships docks were built to take into consideration the local prevailing wind direction to facilitate the vessel coming alongside - hence the origin of Port & Starboard. The ships master conned the vessel from the port side so that he could judge the approach to the dock. :cool:

[Nightrider]

Exaviator, your knowledge appears to be profound.....now where is that bl...y switch for the bow blaster.....:E

[TheGorrilla]

Because if he sat in the middle he'd have the throttles wedged up his ar$%.

[parabellum]

In aviation the explanation is quite simple and for once does not have a nautical source.

When navigating from point A to Point B, if the weather was bad, it was common practice to follow a line feature, a road, a railway, a canal etc. and this did lead to some regrettable 'head on' accidents. It then became a convention that when following a line feature it would be kept on the left, that way opposite direction traffic would be separated as they would now be flying down opposite sides of the same line feature. As soon as aircraft grew to side by side crew, pilots/engineers and later pilots/pilots, (more commonly known as pilots/co-pilots), then the captain sat on the left so that he could accurately follow the line feature, he was still 'the pilot'.

Helicopters do their own thing, some are flown from the right seat, (most, I think), whilst others are flown from the left seat and I have no idea why.

[BOAC]

Para - its all in the forum reference. The helis were to do with torque balancing on the very early ones.

[Brian Abraham]

This question is one I researched some time ago and the best answer I could come up with was a Notam back in the early days issuing a decree. The Vimy and 0/400 of WWI had the pilot on the right and the left occupied by an observer or gunner. The story,

1922 | 0215 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1922/1922%20-%200215.html)

LONDON-PARIS MACHINES COLLIDE

On Friday of last week an extremely regrettable and most unusual accident marred the running of the London Continental Air Service, which has hitherto been remarkably free from serious disasters. It is an accident, also, all the more unfortunate in that it involved the recently inaugurated Daimler Hire Service. A Goliath belonging to Grands Express—F-GEAD—piloted by M. Mire and carrying a mechanic and three passengers had left Le Bourget at 12.6 p.m. for Croydon. The weather was very misty and visibility bad, and when flying over Thieuloy, near Grandvilliers, at a height of only a few hundred feet, a D.H. 18, from Croydon—G-EAWO—of the Daimler Service, piloted by R. E. Duke and carrying a boy steward and mails, suddenly loomed out of the mist. Before either pilot could turn, the machines collided, and then crashed to earth in flames. The D.H. 18, it is stated, had its wing and tail broken off by the impact and fell immediately, whilst the Goliath swooped to earth a little further off. Assistance was at once rushed to the wrecked machines, but with the exception of the boy steward —Hesterman—who was terribly injured, all were found to be dead. The boy was taken immediately to the village, but died from his injuries some time later.

R. E. Duke was a well-known pilot of the Continental services, and had a distinguished war record in the R.A.F. He was formerly, before joining the Daimler service, with the Aircraft Transport and Travel Co. and the Royal Dutch Aviation Co. M. Mire, the French pilot, was also well known as a Continental Air Service pilot, and had been flying for Grands Express for over a year.

The following message of condolence has been sent by the Secretary of State for Air to M. Laurent Eynac, French Under-Secretary of State for Air, and to the Chairman of Daimler Hire, Ltd. :—

In my own name and that of the Air Council I offer you my deep sympathy on the fatal air collision which occurred yesterday, the only accident of this kind in the history of air transport between Great Britain and France.
(Signed) FREDERICK GUEST,
Secretary of State for Air.

Wiki entry First mid-air collision of airliners - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_midair_collision_of_airliners)

air force | royal air | post free | 1924 | 0350 | Flight Archive (http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1924/1924%20-%200350.html)

NOTICE TO AIRMEN
Rules for Flight over Air Routes.
It is notified :

1. In order to give general application to the rules designed to minimise the risk of collision, which have hitherto only applied to aircraft flying over an officially recognised air route, the following rules have been agreed on by the British, Belgian and Dutch Governments :—

(a) The normal procedure in order to reduce the risk of collision to the minimum consists in flying in a straight line, steering by the compass and carefully watching the air space in the region ahead of the aircraft. Every pilot, when flying on a compass course, shall, whenever it is safe and practicable, fly on the right of the straight line joining the point of departure to the point of arrival.

(b) When an aircraft is flying beneath cloud, it must keep at a fair distance below the cloud base in order to see and be seen.

(c) When a pilot decides to follow a route which is officially recognised or consists of a line of ground marks such as a road, railway, canal, river, etc., he should bear in mind that the risk of collision with another aircraft following the same route is considerable. Every pilot following such a route, therefore, shall endeavour to keep it at least 300 metres on his left. (My bolding)

(d) Every pilot who decides to cross any route he is following shall cross it at right angles and as high as circumstances permit. Should he desire, after crossing it, to resume flight in a direction parallel to the route, but keeping it on his right, he must keep sufficiently far from it to avoid aircraft following it in the normal way.

N.B.—These regulations shall in no way relieve pilots from the necessity of conforming to the regulations set forth in Annex D of the International Air Convention of October 13, 1919.

2. Pilots are not obliged by the above rules to follow an officially recognised air route, where such exists. " Point of arrival " and "point of departure" in rule (a) include all turning points on routes which are normally not flown on one straight course. The straight line referred to is that joining the extremities of each section of the route which is flown on one course.

3. Certain portions of the following routes have been officially recognised by the authorities concerned :—
London—Paris
London—Brussels
Paris—Brussels
London—Rotterdam
Amsterdam—Berlin
Rotterdam—Berlin
Rotterdam—Brussels.

4. Instances have recently occurred in which pilots have been careless in the observance of the rules which have been expressly designed for the general safety of all aircraft.

5. The importance of rigidly adhering to these regulations cannot be too strongly accentuated, and all pilots are invited to report at once to the Secretary, Air Ministry (D.C.A.), any infringements which may come to their notice.

And you thought SLOP was a new concept.

As to helicopters the reasons are not always entirely clear. In Vietnam the convention in the UH-1 slicks was for the captain to sit in the left seat, the reason given being that his view was less obstructed by the instrument panel. Normally one would sit in the right, but that was the convention in that machine at that time in that place.

Some are manufactured to be flown from the left (Enstrom and the famed Bell 47). One story (unproven) has it that the right seat convention began when Igor Sikorsky was teaching new chums. The early machines only had one collective mounted between the two seats, so depending which seat you were in dictated which hand became your collective hand, and which became your cyclic hand. Igor sat in the left (so the rumour has it), so when his students returned to the squadrons they naturally sat on the right, as that was where they were comfortable. Photos of his early R4 show it being flown from either side. The winch equipped version had the winch on the left which necessitated the helo to be flown from the right, as the winchee occupied the left seat once rescued. The S-76 which has the captain on the right normally, in at least one SAR operation the captain occupies the left seat.

[Prince of Dzun]

I've often wondered why aviation did not follow the practice of the mighty steam locomotives. British Rail had the man in charge ( of up to 1000 passengers ) on the right hand side of the cab and his fireman was on the left. It was many a fireman's ambition to change sides and the system worked well because if he ( the fireman ) was up to it he would be considered for promotion just like today's First Officer. So what went wrong ? Why didn't powered flight follow the proven successful policies of rail ? The railways were around for a long time before airways.

Prince of Dzun.

[parabellum]

On the railways it was all about which side of the tracks the signals were, both the driver and the guard were supposed to agree on each and every signal they passed.

In aviation, as previously mentioned, (about one hundred times), it was all about keeping a line feature on one's left.

[Pontius's Copilot]

I believe that when single pilot aeroplanes (right hand on stick and left hand on throttle(s)) became too big for the pilot to be seated on the centreline he migrated to the left side so that the throttles/engine levers quadrant could be side-wall mounted, thus a space was created on the right for bomb-aimer access to the nose, and seat the other crew member (initially nav, then second pilot).

BOAC, in addition to the balance issue, the (single) collective lever linkage was bell-cranks and rods, and simpler if all moved in one plane - along the airframe centreline and up the mast.

[maat]

I think you will find that it is another one of those traditions that have been passed on from the navy - like four bars on the captains tunic. In the days of sailing ships docks were built to take into consideration the local prevailing wind direction to facilitate the vessel coming alongside - hence the origin of Port & Starboard. The ships master conned the vessel from the port side so that he could judge the approach to the dock


WikiAnswers - What is the history of port and starboard running lights and why were these colors used (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_history_of_port_and_starboard_running_lights_and _why_were_these_colors_used)

[wheelbrace]

Prince of Dzun has touched on something; an interesting point - I believe this was/is to wind up the left handers of the world! It is, after all, easier to scoop and throw coal anti-clockwise if you are right handed which acknowledges the majority.

HOWEVER... Airbus cockpit layouts are a sinister conspiracy; the sidestick is manipulated at the left by the left hand. :hmm:

[Old Smokey]

If the Captain sat on the Right, where would his "Right hand Man" sit?

I could quote a biblical reference of Who sits at the right side of Whom, but PPRuNe is a non-sectarian forum (long may it be so!).

Regards,

Old Smokey

[BarbiesBoyfriend]

The rules of the sea (and of the air) state that if ship A has to overtake ship B, Ship A should pass ship B on Ship Bs' right -starboard, if you must).

Therefore if the Capt of Ship A is sitting on the left, he'll better judge how far off he is from ship B.

Correct, or co-wrong?:hmm:

ps. I already thought about the possibility that the rules were made so just because the Capt. is in the left side of the bridge.

[DickieBird]

Only GWR (Great Western Railway) locomotive drivers sat on the right hand side of the engine. All other railway companies sat their drivers on the left hand side of the loco cab.

I'll get me Ian Allan Combine, bobble hat, flask and anorak.

[Brian Abraham]

Therefore if the Capt of Ship A is sitting on the left
All the ships on which I have had business had the the Captains chair (Throne?) located in the centre of the bridge, or at least within striking distance (box about the ears?) of the helmsman, who was so located. Poor chap would have to walk from there to the bridge wing.

[Prince of Dzun]

wheelbrace,

Interesting what you say about firemen and right handedness. I'm looking into it.

I must take issue with you for denigrating my " Glorious Days of Steam " caption. Are you implying the days of steam locomotives were not glorious ?
If you are suggesting this then I would like to refer you to the " City of Lancaster " the pinnacle of steam locomotives, a 4-6-2 that combined both pull and speed and of such beauty that it put lovelies like Helen of Troy in the shade. British built of course.

Dickie Bird,
What you say about Great Western Railways being the only line to have its steam locomotive drivers on the right side of the cab is nonsense!! Who told you that ?

Prince of Dzun.

[DickieBird]

Suggest you look at any GWR steam loco cab, the regulator is cranked to the right hand side of the cab, and the reversing gear is also on the right hand side.

[Dairyground]

Suggest you look at any GWR steam loco cab, the regulator is cranked to the right hand side of the cab, and the reversing gear is also on the right hand side.

But if you look at most locos from the LNER and other companies, the regulator and reverser are on the left.

In most parts of the railway system the signals are on the left, so it makes sense for the driver to be on that side. In places where there are complex track arrangements, such as approaching major stations, signals may be almost anywhere to suit the local circumstances, but in general, where a train is moving fast, the signals are on the left.

For aircraft, I thought the driving seat on the left resulted from Americans following their automobile practice of left hand drive, which some suggest originates ultimately from a decision by Napoleon to disguise the direction in which his armies were marching.

[TheChitterneFlyer]

I had been told that the convention of the Captain sitting on the left side of the aeroplane stemmed from the fact that 'circuit flying' was originally established to be a 'left-hand' pattern in order to keep all arrival traffic going in the same direction. Therefore, when multi-engined aeroplanes arrived on the scene they put the Captain on the left in order that he/she could maintain a visual reference to the airfield. Likewise, a 'standard overhead join' pattern is established over the upwind end of the runway so that the captain could see the signal square.

TCF

[non iron]

Spot on.

But since the cavalry had the first go ( and jousting preceded ) l suspect an element of the "sword hand being free" - shown by the spiral of castle steps - was the main cause.

[merch]

From Exaviator
"hence the origin of Port & Starboard. The ships master conned the vessel from the port side so that he could judge the approach to the dock"

Pedant mode on

The terms originally were Larboard and Starboard, but changed as they sound very similar.

The Rules For Preventing Collision at Sea state for overtaking, any vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken. It does not specify which side to overtake on, but it infers that you should overtake on the Port side (of the overtaken vessel) as if the overtaken vessel alters course to Starboard to avoid another vessel, the overtaking vessel would get in the way if overtaking on the Starboard side (of the overtaken vessel)

Pedant mode off

Also the Captains' cabin is on the starboard side - but don't ask me why!

merch

[StallBoy]

If Loco drivers sit on the right and the signals are on the left and a co-pilot sits on the right then why the bl$$dy hell don't aircraft have a guard at the tail end.:confused:

[john_tullamarine]

HOWEVER... Airbus cockpit layouts are a sinister conspiracy; the sidestick is manipulated at the left by the left hand.

.. which would, of course, lead to an entirely sinister situation ... hat and coat on and heading for the door ...


But if you look at most locos from the LNER and other companies, the regulator and reverser are on the left

absolutely amazing, this PPRuNe .. here I am, a chap who can't tell his Bo-Bo from a Co-Co ... without counting on his fingers ... and, in the space of one thread I have escalated my rolling stock knowledge by a factor of a big number ... absolutely amazing.