"John R. Copeland" wrote in
:

I thought some European helicopters turned their rotors oppositely,
and for a related reason flew from the left. Did I think wrong?
---JRC---

Yes, you did. The direction the rotors turn has nothing to do with where the
pilot sits. It does mean you have to use a different foot to counteract
torque, but that's instinctive, at least for most pilots, except for power
changes in cruise. There have been a few American (and European) helicopters
(The Hughes 500, for instance) in which the standard pilot's seat was on the
left, for some unknown reason. As for which direction the main rotor turns,
it was originally due to engineering reasons. The first Sikorsky models
turned either direction, depending on which required the least number of
gearboxes. Tradition took over eventually, and the French decided to be
different, just because they were French. The Russians did the same.
Everyone else has stayed with the clockwise direction as viewed from below.

What this has to do with IFR, I don't know. ;-) On topic, flying with the
right hand makes writing clearances, etc a little dodgy. I have to keep my
kneeboard on my left knee, because I use the right knee for my forearm.
Fortunately, my first officer can take the clearances for me, or vice versa.
Single-pilot, it can get tricky.