Airbus question

[RobbieHe 0]

Knowing that most pilots are right handed, why would Airbus design an aircraft where the pilot in comand has to use his or her left hand to control the aircraft (by way of that joystick) during manual flight?RH

[jagabom 21]

It's also the same issue with the throttles and a control column.But I agree though. Most people are right handed so flying a plane with the left hand is somewhat awkward. I think that over time right handers will be as proficient as leftees.JimCYWG, left handed and proud of it.

[Guest]

As a left hander who's had to get used to living in a righthand world, let me tell you it just takes some getting used to.

[RFields5421 1]

Most aircraft are designed so that the pilot can use his/her left hand on the flight controls and their dominant right hand on the critical tasks, which used to include a lot of paperwork - writing left handed is harder for most people than flying left handed.Now it's punching course changes in the FMS, radios, etc.Of course the co-pilot / first office has exactly the opposite problem.There is also some significant ergonomic testing / documentation that most people have a finer, smoother control with their less dominant hand.

[Dillon 2,197]

Guys it all depends on which side of the cockpit your sitting (left or right seat)... :-lol

[RobbieHe 0]

I'd really have to see the data on that remark you made concerning finer, smoother control with the less dominant hand. The last time I checked, the most precise visual-motor measures are designed to be assessed by way of paper and pencil. Try writing using your non-dominant hand. It's not easy. RH

[jcmissionary 6]

I actually fly in my 172 with my left hand on the controls and my right on the throttle. The only time my right hand leaves the throttle is if I need to tune radios or I'm at my cruising altitude. I actually find it easier to fly with my left hand. When I'm sitting in the right-hand seat, I actually struggle somewhat with my right hand doing the flying and my left running radios and all that.Edit: I'm right-handed, too.

[aerdt 0]

I am right-handed, but for the sake of realism I put my joystick to the left and the throttle on the right. It was awkward in the beginning, but you get used to it fairly quickly.Pat

[G7USL 117]

Maybe it was the result of most of the world driving on the left-hand side of the road eh?Some sort of conspiracy, I think? Now try and control your joystick steering with 'Playstation 2' in driving games using your left thumb!It ain't easy.Dave T. .........On the lovely warm Devon Riviera and active 'FlightSim User's Group' member at http://www.flightsimgrpuk.free-online.co.uk/

[AlaskanFlyboy 7]

I have noticed the same. I'm right-handed, but have always had to use my left hand on the yoke and my right on the throttle. I find if I do use my right hand, I tend to use too much force anyway. My left hand has less stength then my right, so I don't over power. The same can be seen with using two hands on the yoke, you tend to apply the same force/feel in each hand as you do when using one hand so you actually end up using around twice the force. I can't move my left hand accurately to write, but for things that require a delicate touch, I do know it's easier with my left than my right.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

[kerosene31 349]

>I'd really have to see the data on that remark you made>concerning finer, smoother control with the less dominant>hand. The last time I checked, the most precise visual-motor>measures are designed to be assessed by way of paper and>pencil. Try writing using your non-dominant hand. It's not>easy. >>RH There's lots of physical issues behind this, but much of this is simply practice. You can't write well with your other hand, because you've probably never done it! When we first start writing as a child, I'm sure it wasn't precise either. A good friend of mine I grew up with was right handed, but his father was a lefty. His father taught him to play baseball, but he taught him to catch and throw lefty (couldn't afford another glove). So my friend always batted right (since a bat doesn't matter) but threw and caught lefty. Even though he was right handed, he could not throw a baseball with that arm. I fly sims using my Saitek X52 joystick and the CH throttle quad. It always bugged me that the throttle was on the "wrong" side, assuming I was in the left seat. So a few months ago, after flying for many years, I switched! At first it was quite weird, but after a few patterns it felt almost natural. A while back I switched back and forth again, and now I can switch much more easily.

[michal 44]

Clearly you are not a real-life pilot. As a pilot who came through training in the Cessnas and where all your training is done in the left seat with holding the yoke in your left hand and throttle in the right hand I got so used to this arrangement (I am right handed) that I can't imagine holding a joystick in my right hand. I have Cyborg Saitek stick that can be used in either hand.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/images/asv_beta_member.jpg

[Guest DreamFleet]

I'm right handed, and have been flying for 30 years with my LEFT hand on the yoke, leaving the right hand for the throttle. No problem for me!Last week I flew a Columbia 400 from the right seat, and used my right hand for the joy stick and left hand for the throttle, absoutely no issue whatsoever. Felt just as natural as when in the left seat with hands reversed.Now, if you were to ask me to write with my left hand, different story! :-lolRegards,http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...R_FORUM_LOU.jpg

[AlaskanFlyboy 7]

For sake of realism in the fighter sims. My joystick's on the right and the throttle on the left. In quite a few tandem seat aircraft, the throttle is on the left side so you fly with your right hand on the stick. So it all depends on the aircraft in question. I believe it would be to difficult to make two separate throttles in the side-by-side seating arrangement that would be on each pilot's left side.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

[RobbieHe 0]

Practice helps, but our hand dominance is most probably determined prior to birth. In short, we seem to be hard-wired that way. RH