Why left hand drive?

[David Layne]

Why in aircraft that have a pilot and co pilot sitting next to each other is the left hand seat always that of the pilot in command?

[Kyt]

As most people are right handed the important instruments need to be accessible to the pilot's right hand - hence he has to sit on the left.

[liverpool annie]

Originally Posted by Kyt

As most people are right handed the important instruments need to be accessible to the pilot's right hand - hence he has to sit on the left.

I read somewhere that putting the pilot in the left hand seat dates back to cavalry - mounting a horse from the left - I thought that was weird but I suppose it could be feasible !!
I also read that military trainers have to prepare people for single seaters which are invariably flown right hand on stick !!

Annie

[Adrian Roberts]

Just to complicate things: isn't it the case that in helicopters the senior pilot sits on the right?! I've no idea why.

On very early large British multi-engined aircraft such as the Handley Page O/400 or Vickers Vimy the control wheel appears to be on the right, but I couldn't say if the same was true of similar aircraft of other nations. Certainly by the 1930s, on something like the Blenheim the pilot was definitely on the left, despite the fact that on British cars the driver is on the right.

[Roxy]

The Captain has to sit somewhere!

On the Nimrod, we swap every sortie: one day the Captain is in the left seat; the next time he is in the right.

Roxy

[David Layne]

Originally Posted by liverpool annie

I read somewhere that putting the pilot in the left hand seat dates back to cavalry - mounting a horse from the left - I thought that was weird but I suppose it could be feasible !!
I also read that military trainers have to prepare people for single seaters which are invariably flown right hand on stick !!

Annie

Welcome to the forum liverpool annie. Glad you were able to pull up your roots and join us here.

[liverpool annie]

Originally Posted by David Layne

Welcome to the forum liverpool annie. Glad you were able to pull up your roots and join us here.

Thanks David !

Heres something else I found !! ....

Many early aircraft turned better to the left due to the rotational direction of the engine propellers. This meant that landing patterns were usually designed as left-hand patterns, so the captain had to be seated on the left side in order to maintain a view of the airfield. As a consequence, convention dictates that air traffic pass left side to left side when on opposite headings. This means that if they are following an airway marked by visual means on the ground, such as landmarks or lit beacons, they have to fly on the right side of the marked path. For the captain to see the path, he would have to be sitting on the left side.

Annie

[Kitty]

so simple and logical, and yet it takes the fun out of life. Does sound entirely feasible though.