Captains...?

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,553

A mate of mine asked me a question today which I don't know the answer to. So I told him I'd ask around...

Why is it that fixed wing captains occupy the left seat, yet rotary wing captains are the right seat?

Does anyone have any idea on that at all...?

Ta,

Steve

Original post

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 2,623

doesnt it stem from the fact that the most common circuit pattern used is left hand? so with the airport being on the left the captain has the best view keeping the airport out to the left, this is what I have been led to believe

Hope this helps Steve, if anyone knows anything different please correct me :)

Dean

Member for

20 years 10 months

Posts: 222

Also a something that has puzzled me Steve.
Apparently it is due to the rotor disk (torque/gyroscopics) causing a slight tilt to the fuselage/body, particularly in the hover.
The pilot is generally, but not always seated on the right to help balance out the some of the forces.

Member for

20 years 10 months

Posts: 222

Could well be a combination of the two Deano.

Member for

20 years 4 months

Posts: 1,713

There are several good reasons for a Helo pilot to occupy the righthand seat, the real (some say 'correct') reason is probably lost in the mists of helicopter history. :rolleyes:

- It is indeed easier to change freqs with the left hand.
- Many helicopters tend to fly left skid low and when flying solo the weight of the pilot tends to cancel this out.
- On many helicopters the hoist and main entrance is on the right, so the commander will be able to see what happens there (important during winching).
- It is easier to get into the RHS as the collective is not in the way.
- The first ever batch of Helo instructors where originally fixed wing pilots and tended to sit on the left. Because of this the first batch of students were used to sitting on the right and carried on (another theory).

There are also many helicopters which are flown from the LHS, or which have a center pilot position. So there's no real definite reason.