Question about sticks...

[pfarber]

It is easier to shift leg position with a yoke, but you get used to it. As far as ease of using a piddle pack, IMO same thing. I do try to limit my enroute legs to 3ish hrs mainly because my wife and I prefer not to use on-board relief unless it's an emergency and it also gives us an opportunity to get out and stretch.

My opinion is that you can stretch when there is no stick between your legs.

If you ever ride a motorcycle you quickly learn a bad seat makes life miserable. Im still perfeting the long range aviation butt pillow... But a gell pad is the foundation of any long range cushion.

 

[tsts4]

My opinion is that you can stretch when there is no stick between your legs.

If you ever ride a motorcycle you quickly learn a bad seat makes life miserable. Im still perfeting the long range aviation butt pillow... But a gell pad is the foundation of any long range cushion.

I do ride and know what you're talking about--I replaced the stock Harley seat on my bike with a Mustang that has a removable back rest and my lower back pain went away. The funny thing is the seat is so good I never install the back rest at all. Anyway, I can stretch with a stick, just not quite as well as with a yoke. But the controls are only part of the equation. The size of the cabin has something to do with it too. The RV-10 is pretty roomy in that regard being 48" wide at the shoulders and about 46" at the hips. This allows for plenty of wiggle room and the stick really doesn't complicate matters that that much like it does in the Van's 2-seat models. In any event, my and my wife's bladders and our IFR fuel state dictate our endurance, not the ability to stretch. Getting out of the airplane for a 20-30min potty/fuel stop to stretch is just a bonus. YMMV....

 

[Ed Haywood]

Stick is pretty much mandatory for tandem seating.

 

[Boundary Waters]

Stick is pretty much mandatory for tandem seating.

View attachment 101122

Abomination! Abomination, I say!

But Champion's 7FC and Lancer were offered with a yoke in front for the student pilot and a stick in back for the instructor. Making matters even worse Osceola put the third wheel in the wrong place on both. (Fortunately in the case of the 7FC there is a factory letter to modify a 7FC into a "proper" 7EC CONV.)

Edit: I was looking for a photo and...
Ugh, a yoke on an 8K... I need to lie down.

Second Edit: "Selected URL cannot be embedded..." Probably violates the federal internet decency act or something like that...

Found one that will transfer...

 

[Crashnburn]

On my most recent flight lesson, the instructor explained to me, and noticed I was doing it too; when I pull the stick back on the flair, with my left hand, I tend to pull it to the left, too, so I end up landing left of the center line. I never had that issue with a yoke.

 

[Daleandee]

In my particular experimental I have the option to fly left seat with a right hand stick or center seat with a centered stick while using the outside rudder pedals.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Sticks are dangerous…like stones, they may break your bones. Best to fly airplanes controlled by words, as they’re harmless.

 

[somorris]

Based on my experience, the transition between the two is a non-issue. Other factors, like not being as free to move around drive the decision, at least for me. The "cool factor" leans toward a stick while the "comfort factor" leans more toward a yoke.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Flown both. Equally comfortable with both including side stick. Only configuration I didn’t like/never really got used to was stick in side-by-side airplanes.

I did a delivery flight for an Avid Magnum once with sticks. One of the flew airplanes I’ve flown that I did not like. Stick in the left hand push/pull throttle on the right just did not feel right.

 

[Stan Cooper]

Flown both. Equally comfortable with both including side stick. Only configuration I didn’t like/never really got used to was stick in side-by-side airplanes.

I did a delivery flight for an Avid Magnum once with sticks. One of the flew airplanes I’ve flown that I did not like. Stick in the left hand push/pull throttle on the right just did not feel right.

That is a common complaint. Zenith designed my Zodiac with optional dual throttle controls, one in the center and one on the far left; these are ganged together using a "Y" cable.

 

[Fearless Tower]

That is a common complaint. Zenith designed my Zodiac with optional dual throttle controls, one in the center and one on the far left; these are ganged together using a "Y" cable.

View attachment 101749

Which is the way it should be in my opinion. Kind of like the S-3 Viking - Pilot in the left seat with center stick and go-levers on the left.

 

[nauga]

I did a delivery flight for an Avid Magnum once with sticks. One of the flew airplanes I’ve flown that I did not like. Stick in the left hand push/pull throttle on the right just did not feel right.

I don't particularly care for left hand on the stick, right on the throttle either, but I've found that I can get used to it pretty quickly.

Nauga,
sticky

 

[tsts4]

The left stick center throttle is a nothing burger, That’s the typical setup in all side-by-side RVs and it takes no time to grow accustomed to it. Nothing to see here.

 

[bflynn]

What's different between left hand on the yoke vs left hand on the stick?

 

[PaulS]

I flew a 2 seat Extra. Was worried about the stick and left hand throttle. Literally took me about 5 seconds to figure out it was nothing. Side stick same thing.

 

[nauga]

What's different between left hand on the yoke vs left hand on the stick?

The hand position and motion, primarily for roll, is very different. For me, with my time divided about evenly between right hand stick/left throttle and left hand yoke/right throttle, the transition to left hand stick/right throttle feels very different. I get used to it pretty quickly but it initially feels unnatural every time.

Nauga,
and his nonvolatile muscle memory

 

[iamtheari]

I fly a few different planes, some more regularly than others. I’m not a CFI so I mostly fly from the traditional PIC seat. Left in side-by-side planes. Front in some tandem planes. Rear in some tandem planes like the J-3 Cub.

The two planes I have flown the most this year are the Cessna 310 (left hand yoke, right hand full of throttle levers) and RV-14 (left hand stick, right hand push-pull throttle). I also fly a Champ and J-3 Cub, neither quite as much as I should. Both of those are right hand stick, left hand throttle lever.

I have not yet had a problem jumping into any of those planes, at least not a “which hand is which” problem. I was worried about it when I started flying the RV-14, though, because I know someone who had that problem. He had been flying a plane with the right hand stick and left hand throttle lever arrangement and then took some lessons in a Flight Design CT plane, which is left hand stick and right hand throttle lever. He bounced a landing and his muscle memory for going around in the other plane was to push the left hand forward and control the plane with the right hand. That didn’t go so well in the Flight Design. I don’t know if my comfort switching stick hands comes from the push-pull throttle in the RV-14 taking away throttle lever confusion.

As far as stick vs. yoke, this thread has it covered. The stick gives you a more direct connection between your intent and the airplane. The yoke is, in most ways, less in your way in the cockpit. As always, choose a plane for your mission.