Why sometimes both pilots have their hands on the thrust levers

[dmwalker 603]

Just wondering why, sometimes but not always, the Pilot Flying and the Pilot Monitoring each have a hand on the thrust levers at the same time during the takeoff roll. I have seen it on a few videos on Youtube.

[KrisJ 43]

In case of high speed rejected take off need to increase chance of quick reaction.

[dmwalker 603]

Should they not do it all the time? It's difficult to find videos where they do.

[jon b 2,047]

It varies in different companies but quite often the decision to reject a take off rests solely with the captain. If the first officer is flying they’ll normally apply their own take off thrust so they have a feel for the power coming on  under their control during the initial roll, the captain will follow through with their hands lower down the thrust levers. After take off power is set the captain will take over the thrust levers to be ready for an RTO, and if the take off is indeed rejected they’ll also take over aircraft control.

Other examples may be from aircraft without auto thrust to prevent the inadvertent backward  movement of the throttle/ thrust lever during the takeoff roll , which to be honest shouldn’t really happen.

 

 

[dmwalker 603]

14 minutes ago, jon b said:

Other examples may be from aircraft without auto thrust to prevent the inadvertent backward  movement of the throttle/ thrust lever during the takeoff roll , which to be honest shouldn’t really happen.

So, this is what we can see in the videos of the PMDG DC3?

[NZ255 309]

Can also be company policy

[jon b 2,047]

Older planes like that tended to have a throttle friction nut that was tightened once the required power was set in the cruise. For take off this nut would be loosened so the throttle is easy to move, I guess the thinking is if the PF took his hands off the throttle for any reason there would be a danger of the throttle moving back.

I’ll have a look in my old flying book library tomorrow and  see if I can find  a can the logic behind it 

Edited September 19, 2019 by jon b

[jon b 2,047]

Ok, just had a browse, another possible reason... the PF advances the throttle to the approximate take off position. The PM or flight engineer would then fine tune the throttle to the exact power setting required on the day, a task which would be difficult for the PF as he’s busy steering and looking outside.

[188AHC 2,138]

My instructor always told me, particularly in turbine aircraft, that if the AC was disabled during takeoff, the FO could take over and execute a rejected takeoff or safely continue the takeoff.

 

 

[dmwalker 603]

33 minutes ago, jon b said:

The PM or flight engineer would then fine tune the throttle to the exact power setting required on the day,

I think that looks like what they were doing in the DC3 video.

[dmwalker 603]

7 hours ago, jon b said:

After take off power is set the captain will take over the thrust levers to be ready for an RTO, and if the take off is indeed rejected they’ll also take over aircraft control.

So, regardless of who is the Pilot Flying, when the thrust is set, it's always the Captain's hand on the thrust levers until V1.

[fluffyflops 1,858]

Its to keep their hands away from going into their flight bag, and thus pulling out their roster and then moaning about it to the other pilot for the whole duration of the sector.  At least until the lights come off at 10k anyhow 

[FDEdev 955]

Yes, since he's making the decision to abort or to continue the takeoff.  The FO e.g. calls out the failure or malfunction if he notices it first, but it's still the captains decision.

[iwebber 207]

Depends on the company, I've never held hands with a Capt during the take off run (or at any other time for that matter) in 15 years...

[dmwalker 603]

4 hours ago, iwebber said:

Depends on the company, I've never held hands with a Capt during the take off run (or at any other time for that matter) in 15 years...

I can certainly see the potential for misunderstanding.