Flying from the right seat (non CFI)

Ron Levy said:
I'm wondering what you're flying, and whether its tires are kept up to pressure. In most light planes, the airplane will move forward and accelerate to 8-10 knots with the throttle at idle, so it would be pretty hard to taxi without using brakes. Likewise, without brakes, most light planes would roll a very long way after landing even with the elevator full back before they would be slow enough to turn.
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I always thought that the Navion was pretty much a pig on the ground and probably could function OK without brakes (it will not START moving with the throttle at idle for sure), but boy even on grass, I rejected a takeoff yesterday and didn't want to get on the brakes too hard but it sure as hell didn't want to slow up without it (one thing people forget about grass runways is that while they may increase the takeoff roll, the braking action on wet grass can way decrease the landing roll).

Oddly, the first time I ever flew a Navion I did so from the right seat, no problem. I think that being unfamiliar with the plane, I wasn't fighting any learned behavior from having flown from the left.

In addition to the brakes, it's very difficult for the right seat passenger to raise the gear (there's a secondary interlock that's really designed for the right hand of the left seat pilot). When letting people fly from the right seat, I always tell them I'll raise the gear when they say when. No interlock on lowering the gear, so no problem there.
 
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searchingthesky said:
For the first time flying right seat, did you guys fly solo/with passengers or with an instructor?
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First time I flew from the right seat was in the Turbo Lance with my dad (pilot but not CFI). He needed to do some good work so I was the safety pilot, but he gave me the takeoff and landing. Non event, but I had flown some stick airplanes (Citabria and T-6) so the issue of have the yoke and throttle in opposite hands was no big deal. Sometime after that I started flying PA28s and 172s from the right solo.
 
Ron Levy said:
The USAF considered that a big deal for the F-111, and put limitations on formation operations beyond 2-ship without a rated pilot in the right seat for flying on the left wing. ...
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That restriction didn't apply to the EF-111, except for airshows.
 
searchingthesky said:
For the first time flying right seat, did you guys fly solo/with passengers or with an instructor?
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I was a passenger.

I've flown solo from the right also. If the takeoff had felt uncomfortable, I could have slid over to the other side. But there was no need.

But then I just drive a little LSA taildragger, it might be a lot harder in something big like a 172.
 
It is a simple mental problem. Only a problem if you think it is a problem.
 
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