Where should the Throttle go?
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:46 pmIs Throttle on the Left right? Here is my philosophy. I love discussing this with other pilots and maybe will generate some controversial opinions here :)
Where do you like the throttle? Fighter style on the left or trainer style in the middle or right hand? Somewhere in a Sonex video Jeremy or John make a comment about the throttle on the left side of the Onex, ‘like a fighter’. Well that’s true, but is it really the best place? Left handed pilots are lucky. I’m jealous. But this article isn’t really for them. Sorry ☹. But if you want a fun read and to laugh at the majority of us Righties with identity issues, read on.
I’ve been flying for over 30 years. I have around 2000 hours. I’ve flown 30 different Make/Model airplanes and test flown over a dozen new or newly restored airplanes. I currently have three airplanes. A Kitfox, a single seat Biplane, and a Onex. I fly each of them with the throttle in my right hand. Of course you will always hear seasoned pilots say something like “it doesn’t matter to me” or “ I like the stick in my right because I’m right handed”. Lets take a closer look at some aviation history.
In the early days of aviation, pilots were mostly right handed so airplanes were built with the flying control in their dominant hand. This makes sense. Airplanes were much simpler and all they had to do was fly the airplane. The oldest thing I’ve flown is a 1936 Taylor J-2, with the throttle on the left. As the War years came along, airplanes were built with the throttle on the left. The airplanes were faster, heavier, and required the strength and dexterity of the dominant hand in combat. They started to get more complicated with radios and other onboard systems but the tradition stuck. I’ve only flown one military fighter (Iskra TS-11) but I’ve flown lots of Cubs, Super Cubs, Champs, Pitts, Citabrias, Ultralights, RV’s, Sonex’s, Onex’s and more, with the throttle on the left. I never really thought about it while flying and certainly didn't have any issues or problems.
Today, modern airplanes are easier to fly and more predictable. We also spend a lot more time and effort ‘managing’ than those early days of aviation. I think flying with your weak hand and using your dominant hand to mange the airplane is a better choice. I suspect more pilots would secretly prefer it this way but there seems to be this odd stigma attached to it.
Lets jump ahead to modern times. Most of us have spent thousands of hours in the cockpit with the primary control in our left hand. We use our right, or commonly dominant hand, to adjust the radio, tweak the heater, get a drink, take a selfie, answer the phone, adjust our speed, etc. All while speeding along with oncoming traffic literally inches away from us, at deadly speeds, in total confidence. Of course I’m talking about driving. Sorry lefties. I realize it’s a different argument for you. But lets continue. Most of us learned to fly in Cessna’s and Pipers with a Yoke or Wheel in our left hand. This came from larger airplanes like war Bombers where the Yoke helped with leverage and the throttles were in the middle for access by both pilots. Also Civilian airplane designers wanted flying to be more like driving so it was a logical selection. (Our British friends are another story) Yeah, we occasionally see airplanes with dual throttles but lets not go there for now. So for most of us, learning to fly resembled driving; Steer with the left, fiddle with the right. This works well because we use our fine motor skills for all the fiddling and kind of our gross motor skills for the ‘driving’ or flying. Look at a typical cockpit video configured with a stick or yoke in the left hand and throttle on the right like a modern Cessna or Piper. It’s easy to see the entire arm moving gently to fly the airplane, similar to driving. Then you see the throttle hand using those fine motor skills to do all the twiddling. You won’t find any videos focused on the stick movements but you’ll find tons focused on the other hand setting up the approach, fiddling with the map, tweaking the EFIS, etc. You get it…Seems like a match made in heaven.
But then there are the Fighter Jock wannabe’s that ‘need’ that stick in their dominant (right) hand. Lets use a recent video example (no offense intended). Scott Meyer put up a very nice video of him flying his Red Tail Sonex into Port Clinton. BTW, thanks for the homage to those brave Tuskegee Airman that don’t get the credit they deserve. He’s flying his Sonex with the throttle on the left side of the cockpit. While approaching his destination, in the first 4 minutes of the video, it appears he adjusts the radio, writes on a kneeboard, changes frequencies, stows his pen, adjust the throttle, adjusts the mixture, turns on exterior lighting, adjusts the EFIS, zooms on the electronic map, scratches his nose, and adjusts his microphone. Some of these actions are done several times each. He switches his grip 11 times in this 4 minutes. He also later grabs his phone for a couple photos, adjusts the flaps, and uses the hand brake with several more grip switches. None of this is bad. He does a fine job flying, navigating, and communicating his way thru the pattern and approach to a picture perfect landing. He manages his aircraft well, albeit with a TON of hand switching.
I know…You want to go dogfight your buddy and do some aerobatics so you ‘need’ that stick in your dominant hand even though you have thousands of hours of practice doing it the other way. But for how long do you ‘need’ this? Those dogfights or aerobatics usually take 5 minutes or so per flight and you move on. The rest of the time you are doing all that fiddling including getting a drink of water while catching your breath. Face it, most of us are not the young athletes we once were. You soon head back to the airport or arrive at your destination. You start the same rituals that Scott did in his video. Again, there is nothing wrong with any of this. Just get ready for the switch-grip marathon.
So what if we put the throttle on our Sonex in the middle (trainer configuration) or our Onex on the right? Obviously the Sonex case is better for letting your friend fly. But who brings friends anyways? Sonex says we mostly fly alone. If you have the throttle on the right, you get to fly like you've been driving for most of your life. You get to fly like you learned to fly. You get to fly like you do on the occasion you take a Certified whatever is out. You get to do all that fiddling with your dominant hand from startup to shut down, and never take your flying hand off the stick. You get to let your friend try it. Seems like a match made in heaven.
Where do you like the throttle? Fighter style on the left or trainer style in the middle or right hand? Somewhere in a Sonex video Jeremy or John make a comment about the throttle on the left side of the Onex, ‘like a fighter’. Well that’s true, but is it really the best place? Left handed pilots are lucky. I’m jealous. But this article isn’t really for them. Sorry ☹. But if you want a fun read and to laugh at the majority of us Righties with identity issues, read on.
I’ve been flying for over 30 years. I have around 2000 hours. I’ve flown 30 different Make/Model airplanes and test flown over a dozen new or newly restored airplanes. I currently have three airplanes. A Kitfox, a single seat Biplane, and a Onex. I fly each of them with the throttle in my right hand. Of course you will always hear seasoned pilots say something like “it doesn’t matter to me” or “ I like the stick in my right because I’m right handed”. Lets take a closer look at some aviation history.
In the early days of aviation, pilots were mostly right handed so airplanes were built with the flying control in their dominant hand. This makes sense. Airplanes were much simpler and all they had to do was fly the airplane. The oldest thing I’ve flown is a 1936 Taylor J-2, with the throttle on the left. As the War years came along, airplanes were built with the throttle on the left. The airplanes were faster, heavier, and required the strength and dexterity of the dominant hand in combat. They started to get more complicated with radios and other onboard systems but the tradition stuck. I’ve only flown one military fighter (Iskra TS-11) but I’ve flown lots of Cubs, Super Cubs, Champs, Pitts, Citabrias, Ultralights, RV’s, Sonex’s, Onex’s and more, with the throttle on the left. I never really thought about it while flying and certainly didn't have any issues or problems.
Today, modern airplanes are easier to fly and more predictable. We also spend a lot more time and effort ‘managing’ than those early days of aviation. I think flying with your weak hand and using your dominant hand to mange the airplane is a better choice. I suspect more pilots would secretly prefer it this way but there seems to be this odd stigma attached to it.
Lets jump ahead to modern times. Most of us have spent thousands of hours in the cockpit with the primary control in our left hand. We use our right, or commonly dominant hand, to adjust the radio, tweak the heater, get a drink, take a selfie, answer the phone, adjust our speed, etc. All while speeding along with oncoming traffic literally inches away from us, at deadly speeds, in total confidence. Of course I’m talking about driving. Sorry lefties. I realize it’s a different argument for you. But lets continue. Most of us learned to fly in Cessna’s and Pipers with a Yoke or Wheel in our left hand. This came from larger airplanes like war Bombers where the Yoke helped with leverage and the throttles were in the middle for access by both pilots. Also Civilian airplane designers wanted flying to be more like driving so it was a logical selection. (Our British friends are another story) Yeah, we occasionally see airplanes with dual throttles but lets not go there for now. So for most of us, learning to fly resembled driving; Steer with the left, fiddle with the right. This works well because we use our fine motor skills for all the fiddling and kind of our gross motor skills for the ‘driving’ or flying. Look at a typical cockpit video configured with a stick or yoke in the left hand and throttle on the right like a modern Cessna or Piper. It’s easy to see the entire arm moving gently to fly the airplane, similar to driving. Then you see the throttle hand using those fine motor skills to do all the twiddling. You won’t find any videos focused on the stick movements but you’ll find tons focused on the other hand setting up the approach, fiddling with the map, tweaking the EFIS, etc. You get it…Seems like a match made in heaven.
But then there are the Fighter Jock wannabe’s that ‘need’ that stick in their dominant (right) hand. Lets use a recent video example (no offense intended). Scott Meyer put up a very nice video of him flying his Red Tail Sonex into Port Clinton. BTW, thanks for the homage to those brave Tuskegee Airman that don’t get the credit they deserve. He’s flying his Sonex with the throttle on the left side of the cockpit. While approaching his destination, in the first 4 minutes of the video, it appears he adjusts the radio, writes on a kneeboard, changes frequencies, stows his pen, adjust the throttle, adjusts the mixture, turns on exterior lighting, adjusts the EFIS, zooms on the electronic map, scratches his nose, and adjusts his microphone. Some of these actions are done several times each. He switches his grip 11 times in this 4 minutes. He also later grabs his phone for a couple photos, adjusts the flaps, and uses the hand brake with several more grip switches. None of this is bad. He does a fine job flying, navigating, and communicating his way thru the pattern and approach to a picture perfect landing. He manages his aircraft well, albeit with a TON of hand switching.
I know…You want to go dogfight your buddy and do some aerobatics so you ‘need’ that stick in your dominant hand even though you have thousands of hours of practice doing it the other way. But for how long do you ‘need’ this? Those dogfights or aerobatics usually take 5 minutes or so per flight and you move on. The rest of the time you are doing all that fiddling including getting a drink of water while catching your breath. Face it, most of us are not the young athletes we once were. You soon head back to the airport or arrive at your destination. You start the same rituals that Scott did in his video. Again, there is nothing wrong with any of this. Just get ready for the switch-grip marathon.
So what if we put the throttle on our Sonex in the middle (trainer configuration) or our Onex on the right? Obviously the Sonex case is better for letting your friend fly. But who brings friends anyways? Sonex says we mostly fly alone. If you have the throttle on the right, you get to fly like you've been driving for most of your life. You get to fly like you learned to fly. You get to fly like you do on the occasion you take a Certified whatever is out. You get to do all that fiddling with your dominant hand from startup to shut down, and never take your flying hand off the stick. You get to let your friend try it. Seems like a match made in heaven.