why do they use the port side doors!

[ZK-NSJ]

my question is this,
most aircraft have doors on both sides,
but why do the airbridges and air-stairs
always use the left side doors?

[cossack]

Coz the caterers and cleaners use the starboard ones?

[ZK-NSJ]

in my home town the caterers,cleaners,
refuellers,the bulk cargo loader and the
airbridge all share the left side!

[Check-in]

Because the Captain sits on the left and gets to perve out the window at the good looking ones as they board. Has always been thus. Also, these days he is the one who gets the sack if the airplane hits the airbridge. Seriously, there were some DC3s built way back that had the pax door on the RHS - something to do with the way that that particular airline had sited its terminal buildings, or so I read somewhere. Musta been an enlightened airline that let the F/O park the ship? Geez I may be old, but not quite old enough to have seen the buildings, so can't confirm this story, tho' I have seen a DC3 or two with the door on the wrong side. Useless info....?

[canadair]

asked a cpt this years ago, he looked over and said : " goes back to WW1 old boy, board horses, women and airplanes from the left"
well not being one to argue, I accepted this, I hate horses, but now have this ingrained habit with women, and I do agree re the cpt gets to perv, cause all I get at my window is the disabled, wheelchair truck, and most are out of my age parameters!

[This message has been edited by canadair (edited 25 October 2000).]

[A320 SFO]

I have just read this thread and must admit that I have just pissed myself laughing at canadairs reply..he's 100% right, i've just come back from MXP and off-loaded 6 wheelchairs from my side of the alli tube...

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Low Energy..Low Profile

[buck-rogers]

'Tis a throwback to the ships, mi harties, hence the term Port! The riff raff got on that side (from the port) and Starboard was were the crew could stand on a board uninterupted by oiky passengers, and do their navigation readings with the stars (It was also darker with no buildings in the way).

Another useless fact...

The dashboard on a car is called so because on a carriage with a horse, all the cack off the beaten track got flicked up by the horses hooves. An angled board stopped the driver getting the filth in his face when the horse started to dash. When they got rid of the horse bit the Dash Board was a convinent place to stick the dials and glove box on a model T etc.

Ahaaaah!

Sorry, I'll go now. :)

[This message has been edited by buck-rogers (edited 25 October 2000).]

[alosaurus]

BR-Typical navy.Easier and generally more accurate than the stars would have been to look at the port name board.

[buck-rogers]

Yo ho ho!

Ever heard of checking your instruments before you set off. Most pilots do it.

[This message has been edited by buck-rogers (edited 26 October 2000).]

[compressor stall]

Hey Buck,

The origin of port and starboard goes back even further than that. Viking Longships has their rudders (Styr) on the right side and this had to be facing outwards when they docked, hence the left side became convention to put into port, and the right side was known as the rudderside (styrbord).



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Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.
William Blake

[ITCZ]

Funny how far back conventions can go..

Eg Railway standard guage -- was developed due to horse coachbuilding conventions, length of axle determining width of modern railway tracks.

But why did horsedrawn carriages use an axle of that width?

The majority of roads in Europe at the time horse drawn coach services became prominent, were original or adapted Roman roads.

So the width of the track on modern high speed rail services was determined by some Roman engineer over 2000 years ago. Where he got the idea from, no-one knows.

[Foyl]

Width measured by the front rank of a marching Roman Legion in full kit?

[ft]

I once heard this taken even further, believe it or not.

The width of the roman war wagons that set the width of the tracks, subsequent wagons and then the railroad tracks was designed to allow for two roman war horses pulling.

This track width was transferred to the US where it dictated the size of a tunnel. This tunnel happened to be on the railroad between where they manufactured the rocket nozzles for the space shuttle and Cape Canaveral. The rocket nozzles vere dimensionally limited so that they'd be able to get through this tunnel.

Thus, the design of the space shuttle was determined by the width of the behind of a roman war horse.

True or not, it's sort of amusing. :)

Cheers,
/ft

[55 and a bit North]

Always thought the design of the Shuttle was a bit of a Horse'd Arse :)

[411A]

Ah yes, those in Europe can LOL about the space shuttle, but it does work (more than 100 times) unlike the French rockets which seem to blow up on the launch pad with some regularity. The French should stick to food, where they do excell! (mostly) :rolleyes:

[411A]

Oh yes, forgot to mention, in keeping to the subject of the original forum, many Convair 240's were equipped with righthand side pax boarding airstair doors, but cannot remember which airlines ordered same. Anyone here remember and why? The old CV240 was a real hotrod when first introduced, compared to other types in service at the time.

[askop]

I believe the old airliners from former Soviet borded on the RHS!

[DoctorA300]

Or could it just be that the right side is filled with cargoloaders, fueltrucks etc etc.
Less interesting than the space shuttle I agree, but hey.


By the way, what seperates the common passenger from the lowest form of life :)

[Blue Hauler]

The remains of an old Douglas DC-3 that crashed at Bamaga (formerly Higginsfield) on Cape York peninsula during WW2 has the passenger/cargo door on the right hand side. Understand that this aircraft was originally ordered and operated by a Dutch airline in that configuration. Perhaps not all operators choose to load pax from the left?

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Blue Hauler

[spannerhead]

I always prefered the rear entry position as with the 727s and 1-11s

[Avtrician]

The DC3s that I worked on had the entry/cargo door on the left side. May be it was there so the Captain could see when the Pax and cargo had finished loading, after all you cant trust the co-pilot or loady can you.

:)

[Diesel8]

I am sure the astronauts would prefer french cooking, but then again, who knows.

[Seloco]

OK, so can anyone explain why most helicopters have their pax/loading doors on the starboard side?!