Who flies right seat and who flies left seat?

[WildBillKelsoe]

as above.. who takes AC and who takes CP?

[Flagrum]

(*) Right Door (Gunner)

( ) Left Door (Crew Chief)

[WildBillKelsoe]

haha I see..

[agentdarnell]

Majority of the times the pilot in command sits on the right side of the aircraft not the left unlike fixed wing aircraft. I know every helicopter I have ever flown in the pilot in command has always been in the right seat. Uh-1, uh-60, mh-60, mh-6, ch-47, mh-47, and a few navy helos.

Edited June 12, 2016 by agentdarnell

[WarHorsey]

Most helicopters are PC (Pilot in Command) right seat, but -47 is PC left seat.

 

- Horsey

Edited June 12, 2016 by WarHorsey
Further elaboration

[Bearfoot]

Majority of the times the pilot in command sits on the right side of the aircraft not the left unlike fixed wing aircraft. I know every helicopter I have ever flown in the pilot in command has always been in the right seat. Uh-1, uh-60, mh-60, mh-6, ch-47, mh-47, and a few navy helos.

 

Hi agentdarnell, thanks for the info.

 

I have always wondered about this, because it certainly seems that PIC on the right is the norm, but then some books (e.g. Chickenhawk) have the opposite. One explanation for the exception is:

 

"""

In the civilian world, the aircraft commander flies from the right seat in a helicopter and from the left seat in a fixed wing aircraft. In Vietnam combat slick pilots flew command from the left seat, because they were always flying into very tight areas, and they needed all the visibility they could get through the chin bubble and the instrument panel was skewed to the right. This obstructed their view somewhat from the right seat. Gunship pilots, on the other hand, followed the civilian tradition, and flew command from the right seat, because they didn’t generally fly into tight LZs.

"""

 

Garrison, Mark (2015-09-01). GUTS 'N GUNSHIPS: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat

[WildBillKelsoe]

Hi agentdarnell, thanks for the info.

 

I have always wondered about this, because it certainly seems that PIC on the right is the norm, but then some books (e.g. Chickenhawk) have the opposite. One explanation for the exception is:

 

"""

In the civilian world, the aircraft commander flies from the right seat in a helicopter and from the left seat in a fixed wing aircraft. In Vietnam combat slick pilots flew command from the left seat, because they were always flying into very tight areas, and they needed all the visibility they could get through the chin bubble and the instrument panel was skewed to the right. This obstructed their view somewhat from the right seat. Gunship pilots, on the other hand, followed the civilian tradition, and flew command from the right seat, because they didn’t generally fly into tight LZs.

"""

 

Garrison, Mark (2015-09-01). GUTS 'N GUNSHIPS: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat

 

Chuck Gross describes the opposite. He flew right seat then found left seat more comfortable because the bubble was more on left side. Anyways I want to know what is your preference.

[Paradox]

My preference is to fly from the right seat not only because the instrumentation is more available to me that way and it was most often the way it was done

 

But also because I come from a country where we sit in the right seat in our cars as well so it seems natural to me from that standpoint as well.

[Cibit]

I enjoy the challenge of flying left seat in SP but often in MP formation I will swap seats depending on formation and position. If flying number 2 echelon left I have to sit left seat to see the lead A/C otherwise the doorpost obscures any view to your 45 degrees right

 

Not voted due to a depends option :)

[emko]

My seat of choice really depends on the situation.

 

If I want to fire the forward-facing machine guns, then I control the helicopter from the left seat. I use the autopilot only when I want to be in a door gunner position; flying and shooting at once from the left seat is not that hard in the sim.

 

For any other task, the right seat.

[drPhibes]

Btw, does anyone know why the PIC usually sits in the right seat in helicopters? My theory (I guess you can call it an educated guess) is that it makes more sense to use the "collective hand" (left) to operate stuff like radios etc on the center console. In the left seat, you'd have to take your hand off the cyclic to perform the same tasks.

[RabidRider]

Mostly right seat (sometimes left for formation flying, gunnery), though I do like the wider fov of the left one, which gives a better impression of speed. Has anyone tried to increase the fov of the right seat? Leaning in with track IR than recentering helps a bit, but fov stays the same of course.

[Fishbreath]

Btw, does anyone know why the PIC usually sits in the right seat in helicopters? My theory (I guess you can call it an educated guess) is that it makes more sense to use the "collective hand" (left) to operate stuff like radios etc on the center console. In the left seat, you'd have to take your hand off the cyclic to perform the same tasks.

 

This is what I've always heard. It's probably also why you see PIC on the left more often as the helicopter gets bigger: in e.g. the Mi-8 or CH-47, you can usually be assured that you'll have a copilot and/or flight engineer to handle the switchflippery while you're busy flying.

[agentdarnell]

http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/why-do-helicopter-pilots-sit-in-the-right-seat-243212/?no-ist

 

There is a good article on it.

[Bearfoot]

http://www.airspacemag.com/need-to-know/why-do-helicopter-pilots-sit-in-the-right-seat-243212/?no-ist

 

There is a good article on it.

 

Great article! Thanks!

[Sandman1330]

Btw, does anyone know why the PIC usually sits in the right seat in helicopters? My theory (I guess you can call it an educated guess) is that it makes more sense to use the "collective hand" (left) to operate stuff like radios etc on the center console. In the left seat, you'd have to take your hand off the cyclic to perform the same tasks.

 

You nailed it.

 

In the RCAF Griffon community, we usually have the AC in the left seat, and FO in the right. Reason being, the FO does most of the actual hands on flying (there are several controls not duplicated on the left side), while the AC works radios and coordinates the mission. If the aircraft is to be flown single pilot, it must be done from the right due to those controls not duplicated. They chose the right side based on your observation above.

 

Edit: AC = aircraft commander, FO = First Officer

[emko]

There's a legend that good old Bell-47 pilots learnt to fly from the right seat with instructor sitting in the left one (the same as the fixed wing aircraft). When they went into combat, they just remained sitting on the right side because they were used to it. However that's only an urban legend... ...don't know if it's true or not.

 

But if you look at the Soviet helicopter, the PIC usually sits on the left side. The same in the MD500.

[WildBillKelsoe]

that is interesting. agentdarnell thanks for the article. It makes sense now.

[BSS_Sniper]

Your poll is kind of messed up. The AC sits on the right in a helicopter. It's not the same as fixed wing.

[WildBillKelsoe]

Your poll is kind of messed up. The AC sits on the right in a helicopter. It's not the same as fixed wing.

 

I'll see if I can update it.

[Sharkku]

When flying stick it's more convenient to fly right seat, because then you have your left hand more free to adjust radios etc. It's easier to let go of the collective than the stick in a heli especially. When flying yoke, it doesn't matter, and then i sit in the left seat because I'm used to it.

[Robert31178]

"When flying stick it's more convenient to fly right seat, because then you have your left hand more free to adjust radios etc. It's easier to let go of the collective than the stick in a heli especially. When flying yoke, it doesn't matter, and then i sit in the left seat because I'm used to it."

 

Maybe, but don't forget that the force trim in the game has a more or less autopilot type function. I can set my torque to 30% and fly hands off of pedals and cyclic, and this is exactly what I do when I am tuning ADF freqs or going to the map screen.

 

I'm a right seater, BTW!!!

[Deezle]

Right seat most of the time. In VR and sling loading, it's more natural to sit on the left side and lean over the collective than on the right side and lean away from it, which is why you'll see sling loading pilots sit on the left side.