What buttons do you have on your yoke?

M

Matt Goodrich

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Matt
I know most of us have PTT, Some have AP disconnect, and electric trim. What are some of the less common? I’ve heard of but not seen Ident. What do you have or want?
 
Elevator and aileron trim hat switch.
 
I had PTT, trim hat (elevator and roll), ident, radio flip-flop and AP engage/disengage.

Rarely used the ident button.
 
PTT, AP disconnect, passenger seat eject ...

Edit: I have a stick not a yoke. I've not read the book "yoke and rudder" ...
 
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Stick, not yoke, but I have pitch and roll trim on a hat switch and a data event marker under my thumb. If I had an autopilot the disconnect would be on a paddle at the base of the grip. PTT and starter PB are on the throttle grip. Much like displays, I think people tend to cram too much stuff onto the stick and throttle.

Nauga,
on repeat
 
In my RV-10- PTT, Pitch and roll trim, autopilot disconnect, frequency flip flop, TOGA/GA.
 
Not mine, but a friend's Cirrus has a deployment switch for the standard heated cup holder.
 
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I have one button that I never use,, it changes the channel on the CD player, all installed by previous owner with correct paperwork. I can not figure out how to turn off the CD player so just keep the breaker pulled.
 
PTT, elevator trim, AP disconnect, CWS, PTC
 
RV-8A: Mic, trim, AP disconnect.

It has a military-style grip. When I bought it, the previous owner also had flaps, starter and the boost pump on the stick. All three already had switches on the panel. I disconnected them, seeing no need for them to 1. Be on the stick and 2. Have redundancy.

I keep tossing around the idea of going to a more simple grip with only the switches I want, nothing extra.
 
Two functions mentioned above that I really don't understand the purpose for having on the yoke. Please enlighten me.

Ident - how often are you all using the ident feature that you benefit from having a yoke button? I fly lots of IFR, and most flights I don't get requested to ident at all. Other flights it's one time. Doesn't seem worthwhile.

Flip-flop - basically the same question. Of course, I do a lot of changing of frequencies, but almost always I am given the frequency, read it back, dial it in, then press the flip-flop on the radio itself, where my hand is right then anyway. I suppose for approach/tower/ground switching where you might have the frequency already set you could benefit a little from such a button, but it just doesn't seem to be that much of a benefit to me to warrant a dedicated yoke button.

Obviously others feel differently, I'm curious as to the type of flying you do that makes these two things worth the expense and effort of installing.
 
A lot of RV guys like having lots of switches on the stick, maybe for the gadget factor. Real fighters have switches for weapons systems on the throttle and stick so the pilot doesn’t have to look away or move his hands when things are happening very fast and taking your eyes off the other plane means he’ll kill you. But they don’t have ident, flip-flop and engine start on the stick and throttles. Why not? Because they’re not critical to staying alive, and they don’t have to be switched under extreme time compression.

HOTAS vs KISS.
 
ateamer said:
But they don’t have ident, flip-flop and engine start on the stick and throttles. Why not? Because they’re not critical to staying alive, and they don’t have to be switched under extreme time compression.
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...and aren't manipulated when there's something otherwise occupying the pilot's hands. There is no flip-flop, but the transmit switch on the throttle can transmit on more than one radio of the airplane is so equipped. I'd do that if I had 2 radios but would not bother with flip-flop. As for engine start, some of us have to (or prefer to) hold the stick and manipulate the throttle during start. Unlike the tactical airplanes i'm most familiar with our start switches have to be manually held in position to start. I don't have a 3rd hand to use a panel-mounted switch, so I put one on the throttle, with appropriate interconnects to prevent engaging when the engine is running.

Nauga,
another RV guy
 
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RussR said:
Two functions mentioned above that I really don't understand the purpose for having on the yoke. Please enlighten me.

Ident - how often are you all using the ident feature that you benefit from having a yoke button? I fly lots of IFR, and most flights I don't get requested to ident at all. Other flights it's one time. Doesn't seem worthwhile.

Flip-flop - basically the same question. Of course, I do a lot of changing of frequencies, but almost always I am given the frequency, read it back, dial it in, then press the flip-flop on the radio itself, where my hand is right then anyway. I suppose for approach/tower/ground switching where you might have the frequency already set you could benefit a little from such a button, but it just doesn't seem to be that much of a benefit to me to warrant a dedicated yoke button.

Obviously others feel differently, I'm curious as to the type of flying you do that makes these two things worth the expense and effort of installing.
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I’m still an instrument student, most flights I Ident at least once, and some flights it’s multiple times - often after I’m on the go flying the missed approach and coming back from CTAF to Approach. You would think they know who I am because of my squawk code, but I’m guessing they just want me to blink on their screen so they can quickly find me?
 
Pitch trim, A/P and trim disconnect, Ident, Com flip/flop, Com 1/2 selection, PTT, and the switch for the compass and OAT gauge light. Not really sure why Beech decided that last one needed to be on the yoke, but whatever.
 
I am somewhat familiar with Sikorskys and there is a rumor that the factory meets every monday. The purpose is to decide where the buttons, switches and CBs will be placed that week. One cute trick is to install an autopilot standby button on the stick under your right thumb. However, the aircraft parked next to you has a button in the exact same place, and that button fires the emergency floats. That system uses explosive squibs to discharge the compressed gas and explosive bolts in the L.G. doors. The price tag for forgetting which a/c you're in that day runs in six figures.
 
Groundpounder said:
Pitch trim, A/P and trim disconnect, Ident, Com flip/flop, Com 1/2 selection, PTT, and the switch for the compass and OAT gauge light. Not really sure why Beech decided that last one needed to be on the yoke, but whatever.
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Comm 1/2 selection would be cool. Does this only work with certain audio panels?
 
pitch trim hat switch, PTT, AP disconnect, AP Alt Hold
 
Matt Goodrich said:
Oooh, radio flip-flop. I think I would use the crap outta that.
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I'm curious, I've seen this on airplanes but didn't really see the use case. If you are being handed off from controller to controller wouldn't you still have to change the standby first and then swap it?
 
Tantalum said:
I'm curious, I've seen this on airplanes but didn't really see the use case. If you are being handed off from controller to controller wouldn't you still have to change the standby first and then swap it?
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I have found it most useful when switching to departure, and I don’t need to reach over to the right and hit the button. Same with switching to tower/CTAF.
 
Matt Goodrich said:
Comm 1/2 selection would be cool. Does this only work with certain audio panels?
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THIS, seems to make more sense to me as you can switch between tower and ground etc
 
Some guy on a homebuilt I was checking out at Oshkosh had toggles on the stick for strobe/landing light. It looked cool, but I gather it was somewhat more for looks than functionality..
 
Tantalum said:
I'm curious, I've seen this on airplanes but didn't really see the use case. If you are being handed off from controller to controller wouldn't you still have to change the standby first and then swap it?
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When I am out shooting practice approaches, I go CTAF -> Approach -> ATIS (at another airport) -> Tower (at another airport) -> Approach -> ATIS -> CTAF - I never leave the approach frequency, and often have the next set of frequencies tuned up ahead of time. On a cross country it looses its value a bit as you wont know the next sector ahead of time, but you can still use it outside of en route.
 
Matt Goodrich said:
When I am out shooting practice approaches, I go CTAF -> Approach -> ATIS (at another airport) -> Tower (at another airport) -> Approach -> ATIS -> CTAF - I never leave the approach frequency, and often have the next set of frequencies tuned up ahead of time. On a cross country it looses its value a bit as you wont know the next sector ahead of time, but you can still use it outside of en route.
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Cool, thanks! Makes sense. A few of the club planes have this
 
Matt Goodrich said:
CWS?
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CWS ---> Control Wheel Steering. I don't know why they call it that but what it does is temporarily suspended the autopilot while depressed. For example, if you are in altitude hold mode, you can press CWS and initiate a climb. When you release it, the autopilot will take over. You can also use it for turns.
 
Tantalum said:
I'm curious, I've seen this on airplanes but didn't really see the use case. If you are being handed off from controller to controller wouldn't you still have to change the standby first and then swap it?
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Departing on an IFR flight plan. You have a departure frequency. Lots of times departing some airports, it can get busy. With the departure frequency already in standby, you just hit a button.

Once enroute, the only time I use it is if it's a route I've taken many times and know all the frequencies. I can tell you every frequency and when you'll get handed off with pretty good accuracy between Panama City and Sebastian.

In my case I had four buttons on the stick (not counting trim) so after PTT and AP, I was looking for things to use the buttons for.
 
The stick has, AP disco, CWS, Mic, EVS enable/disable
 
donjohnston said:
Departing on an IFR flight plan. You have a departure frequency. Lots of times departing some airports, it can get busy. With the departure frequency already in standby, you just hit a button.

Once enroute, the only time I use it is if it's a route I've taken many times and know all the frequencies. I can tell you every frequency and when you'll get handed off with pretty good accuracy between Panama City and Sebastian.

In my case I had four buttons on the stick (not counting trim) so after PTT and AP, I was looking for things to use the buttons for.
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Thanks, makes sense
 
Shepherd said:
Buttons? You guys have buttons?
sob
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Does pieces of flair count?
chotchkies.jpg
 
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