Left-handed pilots
 

I was wondering if any left-handed pilots could give me advice on how to write stuff down on my kneeboard while flying.

Kneeboard on right knee works for me....

Use your other hand to hold the stick/wheel....trim the aircraft accurately first...it won`t go far...

Or, if it's got side by side seating, try sitting in the other seat!

Kneeboard on your left knee, use the throttle friction, if the aeroplane's not properly in trim, use your right hand on the stick.

But mainly, try and have the aeroplane properly trimmed anyhow.

Most instructors manage in the right hand seat, with the kneeboard on their right knee, it's no different.

G

I'm left handed and I have an RAF issue flying suit which has kneeboards on both knees so whether I am flying (say) a Cessna with a right hand throttle or a microlight with a left hand throttle, I find no problems.

Fly helicopters, sit on the right.

That would not be a solution in my bird: it does have side-by-side seating, but the steam gauges are on the port side; anyone viewing them from the starboard seat will face serious parallax. Instructors do know how to cope with that, indeed.

There’s a few helis that fly from the left seat my 600 was like that and some 350s

QUOTE=ShyTorque;10924001]Fly helicopters, sit on the right.[/QUOTE]

Who would have guessed that? (Everyone). But proper ones are flown from the right seat.

....By helicopter pilots who need really long left arms if they're longlining! But, I concede that you're longlineing, you probably don't need a kneeboard:p

Bell47 not a proper helicopter? Who knew?

I flew aircraft with yokes – Cessna 152, Warrior / Arrow – and used an A4 landscape kneeboard across my lap with no problems.

I flew aircraft with sticks – Bulldog, Pup, Yak 52 – and used A5 sized kneeboard strapped on left leg or left flying suit pocket with a chinograph with no problems.

Maybe a sidestick aircraft like a Cirrus might be more off a challenge. As has been said, trimming properly will help.

As an aside, over the years I reckon that I have met a greater than average number of pilots who are left-handed.

Strangely enough, although I am left-handed, I have a strange 'condition' where if my arm is extended such as when using a whiteboard, painting or drawing on an easel and yes, a kneeboard, I'm right-handed. If I'm writing on paper, then it has to be the left hand. Bizarrely, both writing styles are completely different - left hand spidery and right hand, rounded. Weird, huh?

Yes, I'm left handed. Knee pad on my left leg. The main problem I have is that, in common with a lot of lefties, when I write at a desk or table I have to rotate the paper to the right by about 30 degrees in order to see what I am writing. That's fine when I can move the paper but with a 'straight' knee pad and the paper held by the clip I can't rotate it so my writing ends up slanting across the page. Very difficult to be organised! I would like to try rotating the knee pad to align with my writing.
I would be interested if other lefties have the same problem!

I am reminded of an issue with a left-handed ab initio glider student, in a tandem two-seater. Nobody told him which hand to use on the stick, so he flew left-handed. All went well initially until it was time to start to use the air brakes. Switching hands set him back considerably.

There’s a lesson there for instructors in tandem aircraft.

Another example of an issue that bears little to do with whether the student was left handed or right handed. The story is told as if it is one hand versus no hand: left handed people do lots of jobs with their right hand and right handed people do lots with their left hand. It's obvious that when learning to fly a particular aeroplane there will be a particular method that provides for the best operation of the aeroplane. If the above story is true then the instructor needs to spend some time in reflection.

I have taught a number of disabled people to fly: some without use of their legs and one who had only one arm. In each of these cases we had to spend a lot of time to find the method that was most effective for the particular individual for good reason.

Being a lefty I found it very hard to fly gliders right handed - aircraft with yokes I can fly with either hand.

Civil aircraft seem to be more optimized for left handers: Power in the center and stick or yoke left. (That is whenever you sit in the left seat). Military fighters and gliders are more optimized for right handers: Power left and stick forward or right.
Read somewhere left handers are more used to and talented to use their "other" hand. Lefty myself.

FF, it is true, my name's not DT! ;)

It was another instructor in my club, a long time ago. I learnt from his experience and always make sure that a new student/passenger is briefed to use their right hand on the stick.

Me too - I'm comfortable flying Cessnas from either seat but I have had difficulty on the rare occasions that I've flown left-seat in an aircraft with a stick and a central throttle.