Why does the Captain sit in the left seat?
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Why does the Captain sit in the left seat?
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?
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?
Last edited by stephenboyd9396; 2nd Dec 2009 at 12:28.
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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....
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"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."
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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. 
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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.
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.
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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
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
air force | royal air | post free | 1924 | 0350 | Flight Archive
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.
1922 | 0215 | Flight Archive
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
air force | royal air | post free | 1924 | 0350 | Flight Archive
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.
Last edited by Brian Abraham; 5th Dec 2009 at 03:49.
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The Glorious Days of Steam.
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.
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Prince of Dzun.
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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.
In aviation, as previously mentioned, (about one hundred times), it was all about keeping a line feature on one's left.
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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.
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.
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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
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Sinister developments
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.
HOWEVER... Airbus cockpit layouts are a sinister conspiracy; the sidestick is manipulated at the left by the left hand.
Last edited by wheelbrace; 13th Dec 2009 at 06:03. Reason: To remove unnecessary quote from 'The Glorious Days of Steam' by the Prince of Dzun.
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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
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
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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?
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.
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?
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.
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GWR Only
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.
I'll get me Ian Allan Combine, bobble hat, flask and anorak.