On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 03:22:34 GMT, in rec.aviation.military "Gord Beaman"
) wrote:
William Hughes wrote:

Early piston aircraft had a lot of torque generated by the engine. In a wave-off
situation, the sharp increase in power would roll the aircraft slightly to port.
Combined with pulling back on the stick to gain altitude, this would result in a
climbing left turn. Having an island in the way when doing this could ruin your
whole day. Hence, the island was placed on the other side of the filght deck.

So what does one do in an a/c which has an engine turning the
opposite way?...

And which aircraft would that be? AFAIK, all aircraft engines rotated the same
way - clockwise from the pilot's point-of-view. At least on single-engine birds;
some twins may have had counter-rotating props, but I don't think they operated
from carrier decks all that much.