At 17:56 23 February 2017, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 8:23:23 PM UTC+3, Bob Whelan wrote:
On 2/23/2017 9:41 AM, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Wed, 22 Feb 2017 15:00:08 -0800 (PST), Soartech
wrote:

I also flew a gimbaled side-stick for 8 years in a Millennium
ultralight
sailplane. It was so smooth, natural and comfortable I looked for a
sailplane with the same arrangement. But alas, all I could find were
clunky setups with sliding sticks. No wonder side sticks get a bad
rap
in
our little world. The center stick is OK, side stick is better, more
natural.

Just a question: How do you fly with a side stick if you need your
right
hand to, say, take a leak? Or change a setting on the panel?

Did you train yourself to do all these things with the left hand?


Oh goody! Is this where the conversation degenerates into increasingly
loud
personal protestations of "bestness?"

Color me perplexed to understand how a side stick fundamentally differs
from a
center stick in regard to these sorts of matters. Save for my
(rightside)

stick hand, every glider cockpit in which I've flown has always
depended
on
the left hand for everything but (with one exception - and it was in a
center-stick-cockpit) cycling the landing gear. None of them *required*

switching hands to operate anything on the instrument panel.

That said, I understand "natural lefties" might choose - with a center
stick -
to set up their instrument panels so as to favor use of the right hand
to

operate panel stuff. I also understand the profusion of electronics
today
with
still-increasing gobs of fiddly bits may - in many a glider pilot mind
-
make
it "necessary" to use both hands to operate stuff. Coming soon to a
glider
cockpit near you - a ship with a one-channel autopilot so both hands can

operate panel bits simultaneously? Ah, progress!

Which channel?

Gliders seem to in general be fine hands-off for 30 seconds or so at a
time. Usually the thing that makes me nudge the stick first is
bank/heading, as it takes quite a lot longer for the phugoid to get out
of
control.

Is it just me,
With the centre stick I fly with both hands,sometimes at the same time,I
never think about it.
Gear,ballast vent on the right ,brakes ,trim release on left
Center stick has to be best.