Why Captain sits on the Left?

[Fair.Pilot]

Just curious why the skipper is seated on the Left?
Could it be.....

i) The circuit is always a Left turn circuit
ii) The airport aerobridges are mounted on the Left
iii) Early aviators are mainly cowboys, so they climb the horses fr the Left &
this habit runs to the plane
iv) It is always a Left Hand drive


Did I miss previous thread on this?

[Roger Greendeck]

But why do helicopter captains sit on the right?

[Icarus]

I always understood this was down to the fact that in a 'head-on' (fixed wing)aircraft are supposed to turn right to avoid a collision. Thus they would pass each other on the left hand side with the respective commanders having an unrestricted view.

[WHBM]

Captain on the left because, once aircraft got large enough to have two crew side-by-side, controls (eg throttles) tended to be installed down the centreline of the aircraft to be operated by either, and as most people are right-handed, and, certainly in the earlier days, the captain did most of the work (!) it was natural to sit to operate them with your stronger hand.

Once this was established, all the stuff of approaching the terminal in a right-handed curve (because the aircraft was being operated from the left seat and it made it easier to judge clearances), and then handling passengers through the left hand side, follows on, along with all the rules about which side to pass each other, which suit left hand seating.

There have been some past exceptions. Some of the early purchasers of the DC3 (eg American Airlines) had the aircraft custom manufactured with the main door on the right, because it suited their own way of doing ground arrangements. But these exceptions died away.

There are many other similar situations around. The tradition to drive on the roads either on the left or the right in various countries goes back to various different types of horse-drawn vehicle which became common in different countries, and had different ways in which the driver sat and whipped the horses, but which had them doing the stronger action with their right hand (some countries sat on the wagon, others rode on one of the horses), and the it was then convenient for the vehicles to pass either on the left or the right to suit. Once this was established, motor vehicles once invented and introduced to the roads just followed on the local tradition (60% of the world population drive on the right, 40% on the left)

In the UK, which pioneered escalators and the tradition of standing on the right and allowing overtakers to pass on the left (the opposite of UK roads) this once again came from allowing the less stable, who were more likely to just stand, to hold the handrail with their stronger right hand.

[blind pew]

Probably comes from early sailing vessels- port and starboard - in german bachbord and steurerbord (steering side)- The rudder was a steering oar on the starboard side of a vessel - the helmsman stood on the port side and had his back to the port side (bach(k) bord). This meant that the vessel could only dock on the bachbord side to avoid damage to the steering oar - hence port side.
Many naval terms and customs were adopted in aviation.

[ReverseFlight]

But why do helicopter captains sit on the right?

Helicopters often fly slower and lower than their fixed-wing counterparts. I believe the reason is so that helicopters can fly right-hand (i.e. a contra-directional) circuit at the same airfield simultaneously with fixed wing aircraft. However, many larger helicopters do not have lateral CoG limitations found in smaller helicopters which makes the former flyable from either the left or the right seat. (Mind you, some fixed wing aircraft do not have such limitations either). It's just a convention.

Just 2 cents worth from a dual rated pilot. I'm not sure if that answers your question though ! :rolleyes:

[korrol]

I posted the following in the SLF section - and then noticed there was a new thread on the same topic here. I hope the admins don't mind but I've now copied my SLF post to this thread as it's on a similar topic:-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

I'm a private pilot and, of course, have never flown an airliner - but I would love to know just now Airbus pilots manage to fly from the left hand seat - using that left-hand controller.

It seems odd to me that after years of training and sitting in the right hand seat - using the right hand controller - when a pilot is promoted to the left hand seat he has to use his left hand to fly the plane

Anyone who's naturally right-handed wouldn't normally choose to operate a computer joystick with their left hand - so why on earth should aircraft manufacturers expect someone with a brain which is trained and hard-wired to do the most delicate operations with their right hand to suddenly convert to flying an airliner with their left?

No one would expect a brain surgeon to swop his scalpel into his left hand - so why expect pilots to be able to do so?Maybe Airbus think pilots are a special breed - totally ambidextrous. Maybe the naturally right-handed pilots are all rejected in the course of training -who knows? But I'd love to hear from Airbus pilots how they cope with moving from right to left and whether their finesse in handling the controls is ever quite as good afterwards.

[Boslandew]

I have always understood that helicopter captains sit on the right because the pioneers of two pilot helicopters were the US Navy with the S55 (Whirlwind) and with the carriers island on the starboard and the plane guard helicopter hovering to port it made sense to command from the right-hand seat.

[mattpilot]

But why do helicopter captains sit on the right?

Simply because the helicopter is easier to control from the right side. Well, all the buttons/controls are in the center, and if your holding the stick with your right hand (like most people do), u can easily take off the left hand from the collective and push those buttons. If you were sitting on the left side, you'd have to reach across quite a bit, with some body twist, and your hand gets further from the collective - not really a problem, but annoying nonetheless, and if the collective creeps up on you while you are busy pushing some buttons, it can be 'distracting'.

Interestingly enough, the first certified civil helicopter (BH-47) has the pilot seat on the left side. Aside from 2 controls (fuel shut off valve and the starter, which is foot operated), i'd rather fly it from the right side too if it has dual controls ;). I often found myself clutching the stick between my knees so i'd have a hand free to set some knobs with out having to let go of the collective, considering its friction lock isn't that good and if you got turbulence, its less than ideal. Doing that means taking the feet off of the rudder pedals though, also not really optimal. ANd if your hoving, unless u got monkey arms, you are better off putting it on the ground first before making prolonged frequency changes.

[hetfield]

v) because Copilot already sit on the right.

[Cough]

Korrol...

It takes about an hour in the sim until your left hand does what your right hand did. Its no biggie.

[Admiral346]

And, Korrol, this has nothing to do with airbus.

In the planes you fly, with a PPL, where do you sit?

I guess on the left (unless it is in the center, on a single seater) - and how do you operate your engine?

After 10 years of airbus as an FO (flying with my right hand) I got command on a CRJ (very conventional jet), and now I am flying it with my left hand, I really need the right one for the thrust levers.

Having been in the LHS for 4 years now, I really wonder, how I ever could have been flying with my right hand...

Nic

[4Greens]

Modern control systems require very little pressure, so left hand can be better. Less overcontrol. It was for me.

[FR1A]

The reason is the view is better from the left as the passengers board.

[Deeday]

I've always thought that on aeroplanes the pilot-in-command sits on the left because in the US that's how vehicles are driven, and when the matter was officially regulated by ICAO, the American point of view prevailed (a bit like feet that prevailed over meters for altitudes).

Total speculation anyway and it doesn't explain the opposite convention for helicopters.

[White Knight]

The reason is the view is better from the left as the passengers board.

Absolutely:p

And most people (therefore Captains) are right handed and it's far easier to hit the F/O with the right:E:E

[mattpilot]

Absolutely

And most people (therefore Captains) are right handed and it's far easier to hit the F/O with the right


This copilot seems to have no trouble hitting with the left hand. :E :E

YouTube - Copilot slaps Pilot while Flight Engineer watches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmxiZZZ-2_4)

[CL300]

Airplanes : first planes were flown by military ex horse riders (because of the sword, and more right handed people), when the question of choice came, the left was chosen.
Helicopters : first mass production 2 blades helicopter had a nasty consequence in unloaded g's manoeuver and the consequent tail strike, the blade momentum would get more chance to strike the cockpit on the l/h side, hence the choice. still carried todayon multiblades...

airbridges, traffic patterns and the like came later and were chosen accordingly...

AFAIK

[RedhillPhil]

Train drivers sit on the left too (of course the Great Western had to be different and their steam locomotives were right hand drive).

[P.Pilcher]

As a PPL and flying instructor for many years, I used to swap seats as appropriate and very rapidly became totally "ambidextrous." This followed me into commercial (fixed wing) flying and the seat I am sitting in never concerns me. The only difference is that in a large aircraft it is necessary for the other pilot to aid the positioning of the turn in when flying a circuit in the opposite direction to the seat in which you are sitting.

P.P.

[hetfield]

Doesn't Jesus also sit at the right side of God?

[rigpiggy]

My understanding re RHS helicopters is that Igor Sikorky adapted the vs 300 into a two seater he placed the collective in the center. When he trained the new pilots since he was comfortable in the LHS the new trainees were RHS, then it became tradition. However when doing long lining it is normally flown from the LHS since it is easier to lean over the collective while watching the load.

[aterpster]

rigpiggy:

My understanding re RHS helicopters is that Igor Sikorky adapted the vs 300 into a two seater he placed the collective in the center. When he trained the new pilots since he was comfortable in the LHS the new trainees were RHS, then it became tradition. However when doing long lining it is normally flown from the LHS since it is easier to lean over the collective while watching the load.

I was once told it was because some early helicopter's exhuast fire created some reflective issue for the guy in the left seat. I always relegated that one to a sea tale.

[Kerling-Approsh KG]

Ah, speaking of which, and in due deference to the regularity with which this question crops up, I wonder if I might drift the thread a bit...

If anchoring on a sandy bottom in strong tides, should I opt for the Danforth or CQR, and is an angel necessary?

[overun]

As far as aircraft are concerned l`ve tended to believe it stems from cavalry days with a sword in the right hand being free. Royal Flying Corps recruitment ?
Castle staircases turning anti-clockwise - looking up - the same thing.

And staying to the right whilst following a line feature seems to enforce that, but who knows ?

[Just an other number]

And I always thought the pilot was in the left hand seat because the circuit is anticlockwise.
And the circuit is anticlockwise because of huge torque in early single engines making it easier to do a left turn than a right.
But I stand to be corrected.

[parabellum]

And staying to the right whilst following a line feature seems to enforce that, but who knows ?


And that is the only correct answer here, it goes right back to the early twentieth century; line features like roads, railways and canals were kept on the left thus avoiding a head-on. Sadly it took a fatal head-on for this convention to become established practice.

[Mad (Flt) Scientist]

Why Captain sits on the Left?

To make it easier for predominately right-handed Captains to clip the ears of impertinent FOs?

More seriously, I vaguely recall that some WW2 bombers with multiperson crews, but only one pilot, had side by side seating. I wonder if the pilot in those aircraft was consistently on the left of the aircraft.

[overun]

They were.


As an after thought, Cherry Brandy was used as an antidote to castor oiled engines causing loose bowels.
Stories of drunkeness, Google Captain Strange caught hanging upside down from his open top scout with his trousers almost off.

[overun]

Knights jousting on horse back followed the same rules.

lt has to be the sword hand being free, surely.

[Prober]

Slight thread drift, but this reminds me of a curious story from the mil flight safety mag whilst serving in FARELF. The story came from the US (I am not sure which service) in ‘Nam. A pilot was killed in a crash. The investigation found that he had been in a sustained left hand turn when he met the ground. He had had similar (but not fatal) prangs before and an in-depth investigation showed an extraordinary sequence of events. He was very lanky and he found it difficult to fit into the cockpit. When he had the chance, which occurred when flying a dual aircraft as single crew, he would transfer his right foot to the other set of controls. Unfortunately, on this flight (and obviously on previous ones) his right foot connected with the left pedal on the right hand set of controls. QED.
We used to fly our small military aircraft on to carriers during the Borneo do and I cannot remember there being any preference for either left or right hand circuits. By the time one arrived on finals, there was nothing to see anyway, just the knowledge that (hopefully) right underneath as one let down at 500 fpm, was a tin landing strip. But wonderful to find out about Port and Starboard – after all these years!

[ChristiaanJ]

I haven't flown enough helicopters to have a definite answer.

With most helicopters only having a centrally located collective, I found it easier to handle the 'more critical and twitchy' cyclic with my right hand, and the 'push-pull and twist' collective with my left hand, hence flying from the right-hand seat to me made sense.

On the other hand, my instructor in the LHS had no problems in that position, so I suppose it's not really a great deal.
Cough's, Admiral346's and P.Pilcher's answers in particular seem to confirm that.

CJ


BTW Think of manual-shift cars in town traffic - you do almost as much shifting as you do steering, with one hand almost permanently on the gearstick. I've driven both in the UK and in France for years, and I don't really have any recollection of one being any more difficult than the other.

[Old Fella]

And here was me thinking it was because the Americans were the first to have an accepted "First flight by a powered aeroplane" and the have LH drive!!!

[Brian Abraham]

Fixed Wing

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,

LONDON-PARIS MACHINES COLLIDE
On Friday of last week (7 April 1922) 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.

NOTICE TO AIRMENRules 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. :)

Helicopter
Helo convention does have the captain sitting on the right but there are exceptions, the Bell 47, also Enstrom and I think Hughes 500. The mission at times dictates the side the captain sits. In the S-76 normally the captain sits on the right, but in the SAR role with one operator, the captain sits on the left. Ditto long lining, captain sits on the left. In Vietnam on the Huey slick the US Army convention was for the captain to sit in the left seat. The reason given to me was that the visibility was much better because that seat had a smaller instrument panel obscuring the view. Personally when I made captain I stayed in the right seat because of the ease of access to radios.

Why helo guys sit on the right has always been a subject of much discussion and there are many thoughts but little concrete. The best theory I have come across and think probable is that the first helos had the one and only collective lever mounted between the two seats. That meant the left seat guy flew with left hand on the cyclic and right hand on the collective, the right seat guy of course it was the reverse, vis right hand cyclic, left hand collective. It was said that Igor preferred to sit in the left seat when training the new boys, and so the new pilots (in the right seat) grew accustomed and naturally preferred that position when they were let loose to the squadrons. Hey presto, a convention is born. A photo does exist of Igor occupying the left seat whist the aircraft is being flown by another pilot.

Photos show the Sikorsky R-4 (the first mass produced helo and the first to enter service with the United States Army Air Forces, Navy, Coast Guard, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy) doing ship trials being flown solo from the left seat. Other photos show the helo with a hoist on the left side, which meant the helo had to be flown from the right seat for the hoistee occupied the left seat once up at the door (Lateral C of G considerations aside). So maybe Sikorsky either set a convention by deciding on what side to put the hoist, or the side to put the hoist was dictated by the preference of seating position by the majority of pilots. Who knows?

[ReverseFlight]

Come to think of it since my last post #6, apart from switching sides quite often in both fixed wing and helicopters, I have flown choppers for sling work where it's much easier to lean out left side with the collective on my left (eg Bell 47, Hughes 269). I have also flown aerobatic fixed wing aircraft where seating is fore/aft (eg Pitts Special) where the left/right seat issue is irrelevant anyway.

[itsresidualmate]

When I was going through my RAF engineer training I remember this subject being mentioned. The reason given by the RAF that the captain sits on the right are that in a hover or landing if he/she leans over to look out the side window the collective is more likely to be pulled up and the aircraft rises unintentionally to safety than if they sat on the left and pushed the collective down.

[DERG]

30 yrs since I did basic but we were taught to break away to the right and keep away from the red nav light on a head oncollision course. On non conflcting but opposing vectors the we kept the red nav light of other traffic to out left. On parallel courses our green matched there red and it was easy to keep check in VFR night time.

All our bases were aniti clockwise. All USN bases are anti clockwise too.

[ex desert dweller]

In the multi-crew concept the Captain had a good overall view of the Flight Engineers panels from the LH seat

[Blacksheep]

And here was me thinking that it was better for our chopper pilots to sit on the same side as the loading door. :hmm:

[SinglePilotCaptain]

Carriages..cars, most of which had the driver on the left...had the aircraft guys putting the pilots on the left...simple....hence also the advent of left hand patterns...

Helos... the ascending blade of a helo creates more lift in forward flight then the ascending blade...so when going super fast...the descending blade can't really keep up and a yawing rolling tendency occurs..the weight of the pilot on the same side as the forward moving/ascending blade helps counter act this...

Anyone who actually flies helos single pilot on x countries will tire pretty quick of sitting on the descending blade side.... pushing the cyclic toward the side producing the most lift all day long...

[TAAMGuy]

Of course it depends on whether the machine is made in North America or Europe. With Bell products, the rotor turns counter-clockwise when viewed from above. Aerospatiale machines; the rotor turns the opposite, so if a rollover occurs, the blades tend to strike the cockpit on either side depending on which way the blades are turning at impact. It also depends on whether the machine rolls over to the right or the left.

[Nubboy]

I've always understood that due to the principles of gyroscopic procession, the early aircraft fitted with rotory engines, did left hand circuits. in a left turn, the nose tended to rise, good news. Right turn, nose tended to drop, bad news. Any one operating original Le Rhone type engines care to comment on the accuracy of this?

[CFPlnr]

wow....lots of interesting theories here

but.. the definitive answer is.....

gentleman always sit on the left....:ok:

[Union Jack]

More grist for the mill ......and a lot of repetition!

http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/421222-why-britain-you-have-right-wheel-cars-but-captain-sits-left.html

http://www.pprune.org/tech-log/148018-why-does-captain-sit-left.html

http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/111136-yet-another-silly-question.html?postid=1091622#post1091622

http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/250697-boarding-left.html

Jack

[bugsquash1]

wow....lots of interesting theories here

but.. the definitive answer is.....

gentleman always sit on the left....

CFPlnr

You obviously don't work for my company:}

[DC-ATE]

Every time I tried to tell anyone that the Captain [me] is always right, they would ask why I was sitting on the left then ?!?!

[Graybeard]

My first memorable attempt at driving on the left side of the road was in a rental car in NZ. I would get wipers when signaling a turn, and approached intersections and roundabouts with great anxiety. Finally, I locked my left hand onto the center shifter stick, and steered wtih my right hand, and it all suddenly fell into place.

We left handers are the most abused and oppressed minority in the history of the world.

I'll have something regarding aircraft later. Time now to go to Old Bold Pilots breakfast in Surf City.

GB

[DALMD-11]

Having used both, I'd vote for the CQR.

[grounded27]

Bottom line is the major rule of airliners were developed in the americas where the driver is on the left.