One hand on the yoke?

CC268

CC268

Final Approach
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CC268
I was watching some YouTube videos last night and the CFI told his student to only use one hand on the yoke...I am going to ask my CFI about this today when I fly.


What are your guys' thoughts on this?
 
During takeoff and climb, and in the pattern for landing yes.

On takeoff and climb out you want a hand on the throttle to insure you're getting full power while taking off and climbing. On landing in case of a go-around so you're ready to apply full power.
 
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Always one hand. How else are you going to handle the throttle, flaps, trim, radios, etc.??
 
If the airplane is properly trimmed you shouldn't need more than that anyway.
 
Shouldn't even need the full hand. When I took my first lesson back in the early 90's the instructor told me that properly trimmed you should only need your thumb and your pinky to fly the plane with one hand.

But, on critical phases (takeoff/landing) definitely full hand on yoke, other hand throttle or other necessary items.

You're a pilot, you only get to use one hand. If you're a passenger you can use two :)
 
2 fingers and a thumb, mostly. Shocker, I know lol.
 
CC268 said:
I was watching some YouTube videos last night and the CFI told his student to only use one hand on the yoke...I am going to ask my CFI about this today when I fly.


What are your guys' thoughts on this?
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A Cirrus would be unflyable* if you had to use both hands.



*please skip the "you need the other hand for the chute handle!" jokes
 
For airplanes with a stick, one hand is the only option :rolleyes:
(unless the controls jam - then maybe 2 hands on one stick may be required :eek:)
 
I love to fly with a technique, called the 'two handed grip of death'. How am I supposed to do this with only one hand!? :confused: ;) :rolleyes:

Seriously, only hand lightly grips the yoke, the other either on the throttle or on other stuff I need to operate.
 
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I want to fly with 2 hands but I can't :(
images.jpg

<--The other hand goes here.
 
Yup, just one hand, other for the throttle, flaps, etc.


If you need both hands something is seriously wrong, ether with the plane or with the pilot.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I want to fly with 2 hands but I can't :(
images.jpg

<--The other hand goes here.
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So, this means you are actually flying with two hands!? I understand that the chute lever is considered an essential flight control in a Cirrus, which is just as, if not more important, than the stick!? :confused:
 
Both hands clasped as tight as possible on the yoke so your knuckles are white like the whites of your eye's when you first lift off ! :yikes:

I jest of course, as others have said one hand on yoke and the other free to "tinker" with everything else.
Your CFI will put you right on this for sure. :thumbsup:
 
I remember being surprised how well the plane flies with no hands. Planes like to fly, you don't have to muscle them around the sky.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
 
CC268 said:
I was watching some YouTube videos last night and the CFI told his student to only use one hand on the yoke...I am going to ask my CFI about this today when I fly.


What are your guys' thoughts on this?
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And for the serious answer:
Yes, the best way to fly is with 1 hand on the yoke.
Most pilots struggle with this early on. It is normal and hard to break the habit of using 2 hands in the beginning.

You will have to force yourself to do it or your CFI will remind you until you are consistently flying with one hand on the yoke.

Eventually you will get to the point where it seems awkward to fly with 2 hands. I flew a 172 the other day. I was filming a clever "instructional" video and flying with 2 hands. It felt really odd.

You will get to where left hand is yoke and right hand is throttle, mixture, radios, trim, gps, vor, etc. Your right hand is your co pilot.
 
JoeFromKS said:
I remember being surprised how well the plane flies with no hands. Planes like to fly, you don't have to muscle them around the sky.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk
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Depends a lot on how well the airplane is rigged.

A properly rigged airplane can very easily be flown hands off. I can practically fly my Baron just by leaning my body around the cockpit. I can fly the ~9000lb Twin Beech with one finger. I attribute that more to the airplanes than my mad skillz.
 
CC268 said:
I was watching some YouTube videos last night and the CFI told his student to only use one hand on the yoke...I am going to ask my CFI about this today when I fly.


What are your guys' thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Even more than that. One finger and one thumb.

A light touch is extremely helpful. You'll learn to feel what the air and airplane are telling you.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I want to fly with 2 hands but I can't.
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I'm calling bull****....... I have seen the video. All you do is push buttons. In fact, it's fairly obvious you are skeered to even touch that panel mounted putter!
 
MAKG1 said:
Even more than that. One finger and one thumb.

A light touch is extremely helpful. You'll learn to feel what the air and airplane are telling you.
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:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yes:

Guys, don't forget that the OP is a fresh student pilot.

OP, don't worry about it.
You will find yourself relaxing your "death grip" eventually and flying with just fingers or one hand. It gets easier. The first few lessons are always full of surprises.
Give it time.
 
My CFI taught me from the very first moment of instruction that my left hand is on the yoke and the right hand is on the throttle, flap switch, radio, pencil, trim wheel, mixture, etc. (as appropriate, not simultaneously.)
 
I like to fly hands-off. That way I know the autopilot isn't broken again.
 
I usually use a knee. Need both hands to control that whoppers approach. Or one hand whopper, one hand large diet coke.
 
The AFH has some good info in Chapter 3 on this subject, although I don't recall any specific mention about how many hands/feet to use at any given time. It does have lots of good stuff about control pressure, how little is needed for a properly trimmed aircraft, etc. Learn to "trim to relieve control pressure" vs trying to trim for a specific attitude. Establish the attitude you want and trim to relieve control pressure. Then repeat for attitude or configuration changes. For some reason that concept seems to mystify student pilots at the beginning of flight training.
 
Somewhere back during the Nixon Administration I got in the habit of two hands while on instruments (other than while fiddling with power, trim, radios, gear, flaps, etc., of course). Not sure why, but it works for me and I'm not about to change now. One hand in VMC.

:dunno:
 
Pilawt said:
Somewhere back during the Nixon Administration I got in the habit of two hands while on instruments (other than while fiddling with power, trim, radios, gear, flaps, etc., of course). Not sure why, but it works for me and I'm not about to change now. One hand in VMC.

:dunno:
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Two hands in instruments seems even worse than two hands in VMC, imo. Last thing I'd wanna do is take a hand off the yoke and "find" something if I needed it ASAP, especially in hard IMC.

But I guess if it works for you, it works :).

It also probably depends on the PLANE you fly. Piston vs Jet vs Airliner
 
It's amazing how much smoother the airplane flies with two fingers. A firm grip means clumsier corrections. Imagine a surgeon using his whole fist on the scalpel...

Besides, how does one keep up with facebook on his smartphone if he doesn't have one hand free?
 
A properly trimmed airplane will fly "no hands" for short periods.

Bob Gardner
 
Dan Thomas said:
It's amazing how much smoother the airplane flies with two fingers. A firm grip means clumsier corrections. Imagine a surgeon using his whole fist on the scalpel...

Besides, how does one keep up with facebook on his smartphone if he doesn't have one hand free?
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No kidding. Death grip in IMC means overcorrection, poor trim, and difficulty maintaining altitude and heading. Not at all good.
 
One hand on the yoke wasn't even a suggestion when I learned to fly… it was more like a commandment from on high. That second hand had a job to do: throttle, mixture, trim, radios, etc.
 
I recently did flight reviews for two very experienced pilots - each has been flying for over 40 years. Neither one knows the other as far as I know.

They BOTH did the same thing which seemed bizarre to me - once set up and trimmed for that phase of flight, or maneuver, or whatever, they would very visibly take their hand off the yoke and let the plane fly. So, no hands on the yoke at all. It was almost like making a show of it.

Now, I've done this to show students the effects of trim and such, and from time to time if I'm flying long distances or something, but generally I always have one hand on the yoke, granted with a very light touch.

My question is, was this a "thing" decades ago in flight training? To prove you had things trimmed, or under control, or something, you'd take your hand off the yoke and show the instructor?

We're talking in steep turns, slow flight, basically any phase of flight where the controls weren't actually be moved at that time they both did this. With the first guy, I figured it was just a little quirk. But then the second guy did it too!
 
Caramon13 said:
Two hands in instruments seems even worse than two hands in VMC, imo.
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I think one advantage is in a big jolt from turbulence, a single hand on the yoke can result in unintended roll from the weight of the one hand used.

As an aside, in both my Traveler and my Tiger I would often drape my left hand over the "hub" of the yoke, turning it into a virtual "stick". Worked for me.
 
I got so used to using a thumb and forefinger that I gave myself a mild case of tendonitis in my thumb driving the Dodge on and off for a couple of months.

It transferred right over to the cars and I didn't realize how much more pressure it took to steer the dually with Dodge's cheap power steering. Especially after we replaced all the wear components in the truck a couple of years ago.

Bob mentioned that most airplanes will fly hands off for short periods when trimmed right. I've played games when solo on long XCs with maintaining altitude just by shifting my weight forward and back in the seat. I think the longest I went without touching the yoke for pitch was a little under an hour. I have to push the ailerons to the left occasionally though, no aileron trim and we're a little tiny bit out of rig somewhere.

Get her trimmed out and you don't have to do anything but small pressures on the yoke. You'll get there.
 
RussR said:
I recently did flight reviews for two very experienced pilots - each has been flying for over 40 years. Neither one knows the other as far as I know.

They BOTH did the same thing which seemed bizarre to me - once set up and trimmed for that phase of flight, or maneuver, or whatever, they would very visibly take their hand off the yoke and let the plane fly. So, no hands on the yoke at all. It was almost like making a show of it.

Now, I've done this to show students the effects of trim and such, and from time to time if I'm flying long distances or something, but generally I always have one hand on the yoke, granted with a very light touch.

My question is, was this a "thing" decades ago in flight training? To prove you had things trimmed, or under control, or something, you'd take your hand off the yoke and show the instructor?

We're talking in steep turns, slow flight, basically any phase of flight where the controls weren't actually be moved at that time they both did this. With the first guy, I figured it was just a little quirk. But then the second guy did it too!
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If it's trimmed, whatever.

In my first plane (no AP) I would just trim it out, sit back with my hands off the yoke and steer with tiny rudder inputs for long trips.

As for trimming I've always just trimmed the pressure off, don't have to let go to prove it was trimmed, if you're relaxed you can feel when the plane isn't fighting you anymore.
 
RussR said:
I recently did flight reviews for two very experienced pilots - each has been flying for over 40 years. Neither one knows the other as far as I know.

They BOTH did the same thing which seemed bizarre to me - once set up and trimmed for that phase of flight, or maneuver, or whatever, they would very visibly take their hand off the yoke and let the plane fly. So, no hands on the yoke at all. It was almost like making a show of it.

Now, I've done this to show students the effects of trim and such, and from time to time if I'm flying long distances or something, but generally I always have one hand on the yoke, granted with a very light touch.

My question is, was this a "thing" decades ago in flight training? To prove you had things trimmed, or under control, or something, you'd take your hand off the yoke and show the instructor?

We're talking in steep turns, slow flight, basically any phase of flight where the controls weren't actually be moved at that time they both did this. With the first guy, I figured it was just a little quirk. But then the second guy did it too!
Click to expand...

It is one of many confidence builders to be used in primary training. Killing the engine with the mixture is another. The falling-leaf stall is yet another.
Deep in our lizard-brains humans are afraid of falling, and this can be a factor in fear of stalling, fear of engine failure, fear of loss of control, etc. It is the instructor's responsibility to demonstrate 'It's no big deal...but if it happens, this is what you can expect and this is what you should do. Notice that we have not fallen out of the sky in flames."

Bob Gardner
 
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