PIC Seating
 

Sorry to intrude, was just reading the James May thread when a question/observation popped up.....

The pilot in command in the Richard Hammond video is sitting in the right hand seat. That got me thinking to the only time I have been in a helicopter in ST Lucia where I was lucky enough to sit in the Left Hand Seat.

I am sure this may have been asked before and I did do a brief search but found little - why is it that the PIC has the right hand seat whereas in GA/Airliners the PIC is on the left, it would seem the instruments favour the PIC being in the left seat in aeroplanes. Is it just coincidence or is there some reasoning behind this.

From what I have googled the cyclics etc are in the same place regardless of seating and this is just a habbit. I guess the same could be asked of aeroplanes but this seems to be answered by the instrumentation being favoured to the left seat.

Apologies if there is a more definitive answer - as I have not found it yet.

Cheers

So you can hold onto the cyclic with your right hand to stop the helicopter from falling out of the sky while twiddlng buttons, unfolding a map or picking your nose with your left hand. You probably won't die through taking your hand off the collective for a few seconds.

However some helicopters are supposed to be flown from the left hand seat and some pilots prefer it for long line as ergonomics are not so good when leaning out the right hand window.

This subject has been discussed at length here: Why do you fly from the right hand seat?