Do real pilots ever let go of the stick?

[dutchpilot]

One of the problems I sometimes encounter during flying is that if I use my right hand to do something in the cockpit (e.g. using the mouse) I have to take my hand of the stick and the heli starts doing unwanted things.

I always wondered how real pilots handle this. In the cockpit there are a lot of controls on the right hand side (for example the PVI), how do they take care of these in the heat of battle?

[Jazz_44]

Well, in the Ka50 the stick is in the center, so the pailot can shift his left hand to grab the stick while his right hand is free to manipulate anything in the cockpit.

Also if the aircraft is trimmed (any aircraft) then you don't have to hold the stick all the time, the plane or helicopter will fly itself.

Works like a charm in a Cessna 172 and should be no different in an F16 or a Mig29 :smilewink:

 

Itai

[Jack57]

IRL it was common for us to hold the cyclic between our knees when you neded both hands or the right hand in particular. The collective would often stay put for a few moments depending on the particular machine and how well balanced the rotors were. It was also possible to hold the collective by pressing the side of your leg against it. Some have a friction nut as well. Most small civilian helicopters do not have trim that functions in any way like a small fixed wing aircaft such as the 172 :smilewink:

 

In this sim I have my collective set up like the real thing but with enough friction so it won't fall under its own weight if I let go. That leaves me free to use the left hand for the keyboard and if I need to use the mouse I simply fly for lefthanded for the duration.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Jack57

[AlphaOneSix]

The collective will stay put all by itself as long as you aren't holding the collective brake. The cyclic, as long as it is trimmed, will stay put as well. It's fine to let go of it for a couple of seconds to push buttons or switches. If the aircraft is not stable when you let go of the cyclic, it means you're not trimmed for stable flight to begin with. I've played the game with my hand off of the cyclic for several minutes at a time, even with the route following mode off.

[nemises]

yeah, I constantly let go of the cyclic to do mouse clicks...

as long as you are timmed correctly, or in a stable hover, there is no issue (of course, you must pay constant attention to what is hapenning outside of the cockpit incase you are driting very slowly backwards into a hill for eg ;) )

[joey45]

change hands...

[Kula66]

I know fixed wing are different, but I read in some F-15 book of a pilot on a transatlatic flight having to turn around and kneel on his seat to pee because he couldn't do it sitting ...

[SUBS17]

LOL piddle packs man the 15 must have heaps of room as the F-16 you have no chance of doing that. So far two F-16s have been lost while guys have tried to take a piss and in one case the guy was unstrapped from the seat when he ejected.:doh:

[EtherealN]

Like they said in Jurassic Park: If you gotta go you gotta go. :P

[Jack57]

The collective will stay put all by itself ...

 

I have personally exerienced the collective rapidly move to the full up position and the full down position when not being held. With the latter I was flying dual doing low level cattle mustering when we both assumed the other had the collective - when it drops suddenly at 50 feet agl your heart rate tends to go up rather quickly :huh: Ah yes, we are all perfect pilots with hindsight :smilewink:

There have also been quite a few instances of pilotless helicpters becoming airborne when the the pilot neglected to apply the friction lock before exiting :joystick:

As I said earlier, it all depends on how well balanced the rotors are, among other things.

[AlphaOneSix]

I was referring specifically to the Ka-50. Sorry for not clarifying that in my post. If you let go of the collective on the Ka-50, it will stay put.

[ericinexile]

I had an FO recently who was formerly a Blackhawk pilot. One of his more interesting experiences was: Once, after the co-pilot had landed, he for some wacky reason pulled hard on the collective when he intended to set the parking brake. "WTF, sirs!" all around.

[Draco]

might work in the KA-50... but I fly an R-44. I say a prayer every time I take my hand off the collective to tune the radio. The control forces are so light and so responsive, if I let go of the cyclic it would flip upside down, turn inside out, explode and fall out of the sky. Your right hand is glued to the helicopter the moment the skids leave the ground.

[104th_Crunch]

Another option you may consider is purchasing a cheap second mouse to put on your left side near your collective. That way you can still keep your right hand on the cyclic.

[leroy1964]

is this based on reality?

 

LOL piddle packs man the 15 must have heaps of room as the F-16 you have no chance of doing that. So far two F-16s have been lost while guys have tried to take a piss and in one case the guy was unstrapped from the seat when he ejected.:doh:

 

Sorry to ask but as a nurse, I was always led to believe they have a catheter (not a indwelling) but the type that works like a condom, just peels and sits over the pen.... or by 'piddle pack' do you mean the same concept? The only reason I ask is the catheter setup alows the pilot to remain seated on long flights (good example is the Lockheed SR-71). However with the F-16, not alot of room, however good story.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

I thought they just opened up the canopy and let it rain..........

[Panzertard]

might work in the KA-50... but I fly an R-44. I say a prayer every time I take my hand off the collective to tune the radio. The control forces are so light and so responsive, if I let go of the cyclic it would flip upside down, turn inside out, explode and fall out of the sky. Your right hand is glued to the helicopter the moment the skids leave the ground.

 

That makes me wonder - how brave do you folks have to be - fearing for your life everytime you need to hit a knob?

(Sincerly - I would have been scared like crazy ... :cry: )

Or do you just get used to it? Not thinking about it anymore?

 

Anyway - Kudos to those brave men who dare to go out in these flying machines! :)

[SUBS17]

Sorry to ask but as a nurse, I was always led to believe they have a catheter (not a indwelling) but the type that works like a condom, just peels and sits over the pen.... or by 'piddle pack' do you mean the same concept? The only reason I ask is the catheter setup alows the pilot to remain seated on long flights (good example is the Lockheed SR-71). However with the F-16, not alot of room, however good story.

 

Nope they use piddlepacks.

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-661-start-0.html

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_forum_viewtopic-t-661-start-15.html

http://www.jwodcatalog.com/products.aspx?keywords=sponge&NSN=&logos=&Results=10&submit=Submit&goto=31

Had a few scary weeks during the last days of November. Was it the AAA, surface-to-air threat, night tanking, night traps? Nope - we almost ran out of piddle packs. For those of you who have never experienced the 'cheese sandwich,' let me explain. Imagine flying for 8.5 hours - let's say from Boston to LA non-stop - on an airliner with no toilets and 'movement about the cabin' is not only frowned upon, it is prohibited (you can see where I'm going here). When nature calls, the answer is the piddle pack - a small 20-ounce tough plastic bag with a ziploc top, ergonomically designed for cockpit usage, if you get my drift. Well, the word goes out late November that the ship's piddle pack inventory is running dangerously low, a timely re-supply is unlikely and in-flight relief generally needs to slow down, that is unless you were comfortable relieving yourself airborne on yourself.

 

Panic shot through the squadron and, as usual, we had some folks overact, acting like peed-out piddle pack junkies gong to any means to get their hands on some of the last remaining piddle packs: stealing, looting, begging, chicanery, hanging out in bathrooms and dark passageways looking to trade sex for piddle packs, you name it. One guy was found with TEN piddle packs in his helmet bag during the height of the Piddle Pack Depression and was beaten to within one urine drop of his life by a mob of angry pilots and RIOs, all recently forced to make an arrested carrier landing with a full bladder. Ruthless stuff. My squadron, in keeping with the theme that desperate times require desperate (i.e. moronic) measures, survived these dark days by adopting a completely unsafe personal dehydration plan coupled with the procurement of several emergency in-flight relief vessels/urine storage devices - Gatorade bottles - for those times when bladder evacuation at 32,000 feet was just plain unavoidable. As an aside, donning the ever reliable DEPENDS undergarment was momentarily discussed but instantaneously dismissed. We were all in agreement that the image of a downed Navy fighter pilot in Afghanistan, paraded in front of the cameras on CNN, wearing only DIAPERS would only serve to heighten the fighting spirit and resolve of the Taliban and al Qaeda network world wide.

This one cracks me up:D From

http://www.newtotalitarians.com/PiddlePacks.html

Women use an adapter from what I've heard.

Theres an audio track somewhere of a pilot who takes a dump in his pants in a two seater fighter but I can't find the link for it.:doh:

[Kwill]

I don't know what's the problem, you have 2 hands don't you? if you need to use your right hand to control the mouse or whatever then hold the cyclic with your left hand.

[EtherealN]

That makes me wonder - how brave do you folks have to be - fearing for your life everytime you need to hit a knob?

(Sincerly - I would have been scared like crazy ... :cry: )

Or do you just get used to it? Not thinking about it anymore?

 

Some people react the same way when I tell them that I regularly fly aircraft with no engine. (One of the guys working for the family even refused to believe that I wasn't joking when I said that there was no engine... :P ) Misjudge your approach when heading in for a landing and... well... It's not like you can do a circuit and try again... :P

 

The general answer really, is, you just learn what risks are there and make damn sure to follow the procedures to avoid those risks. I expect that the answer is the same for helicopter pilots that have no AP channels.