Why is a standard hold right turns?

wrote in :

I heard once that the right-seat thing got started because some early
model had flame coming out the exhaust stack that was very distracting
from the left seat at night.

Probably a pure BS urban legend, though. ;-)

That's one I never heard.

"Stan Gosnell" wrote in message
...
... Flying from the
left seat has never made any sense at all to me. ...

Exactly. Boats have their helm on the right, so that helmspersons (choke)
can more easily observe the traffic in their "give-way" zone, the RIGHT.
Its the same rules for aircraft, but from the left seat you have a much more
restricted view of that side.

In article
e.rogers.com,
"Icebound" wrote:

"Stan Gosnell" wrote in message
...
... Flying from the
left seat has never made any sense at all to me. ...

Exactly. Boats have their helm on the right, so that helmspersons (choke)
can more easily observe the traffic in their "give-way" zone, the RIGHT.
Its the same rules for aircraft, but from the left seat you have a much more
restricted view of that side.

Some boats have their helm on the right. Generally small powerboats.
Larger boats tend to have them on the centerline.

Launches (the small powerboats that take people from a dock out to a
boat on a mooring) almost always have the helm on the left (port) side.
Why? Because they come up to the starboard side of the moored boat, and
it makes it easier for the launch driver to be on the port side, towards
the boat he's approaching. Why do they come up to the starboard side of
the moored boat? Well, I'm not sure, but the explanation I've heard is
that the head (i.e. toilet) discharge is usually on the port side, which
seems like a pretty good reason to me.

Boats often have multiple helm stations. Sometimes there's one up on
the flybridge for use in good weather, and another down below where you
can stay warm and dry. Workboats often have a secondary helm station
near the stern, so you can control the boat while back there pulling in
fishing nets or whatever.

Nobody ever mentioned a twin engine aircraft, so this is my guess. In a
twin, where both engines turn in the same direction, there is a slight
asymmetry to the thrust vector, I believe, slightly to the right side of the
airplane. If you were in a turn, at low speed, and you lost and engine, you
would rather be turning into the engine with the power than away from it.
But since you don't know which engine is going to fail, you would rather
turn into the thrust vector than away from it. That's my theory.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
It has always struck me odd that a standard landing pattern is left
turns and a standard hold is right turns. Having a left patterns for
landing makes a bit of sense, since the pilot is on the left side of the
cockpit and has a better view of the runway making left turns.

But, for IFR holds, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to one way or
the other. Why did they pick right turns to be standard?

VFR hold = left as pilot usually sits on left side and has better view
though
IFR hold = right 1) to better separate from VFR hold 2) no actual need to
look out, esp. in IMC

regards

Herbert
PPL ASEL
IFR student
ardent Cessna lover (172+182)

"Walter Ellison" wrote in message
link.net...
Nobody ever mentioned a twin engine aircraft, so this is my guess. In a
twin, where both engines turn in the same direction, there is a slight
asymmetry to the thrust vector, I believe, slightly to the right side of
the
airplane. If you were in a turn, at low speed, and you lost and engine,
you
would rather be turning into the engine with the power than away from it.
But since you don't know which engine is going to fail, you would rather
turn into the thrust vector than away from it. That's my theory.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
It has always struck me odd that a standard landing pattern is left
turns and a standard hold is right turns. Having a left patterns for
landing makes a bit of sense, since the pilot is on the left side of the
cockpit and has a better view of the runway making left turns.

But, for IFR holds, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to one way or
the other. Why did they pick right turns to be standard?

In a twin the thrust line is slightly to the right when climbing, just like
a single, which makes the plane yaw left, just like in a single. The left
engine in a twin is the "important" engine. If you lose an engine, you
prefer it not to be the left one. Turning into the one good engine is about
the most difficult thing to do in a twin. If you lose the left engine, it
might take all of your right rudder just to keep it going straight. You
probably don't have enough to perform a right hand turn. It is probably
easier to do a 270 degree left turn than a 90 degree right turn. I don't
think the right hand turns associated with a hold have anything to do with a
twin.


"Walter Ellison" wrote in message
link.net...
Nobody ever mentioned a twin engine aircraft, so this is my guess. In a
twin, where both engines turn in the same direction, there is a slight
asymmetry to the thrust vector, I believe, slightly to the right side of
the
airplane. If you were in a turn, at low speed, and you lost and engine,
you
would rather be turning into the engine with the power than away from it.
But since you don't know which engine is going to fail, you would rather
turn into the thrust vector than away from it. That's my theory.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
It has always struck me odd that a standard landing pattern is left
turns and a standard hold is right turns. Having a left patterns for
landing makes a bit of sense, since the pilot is on the left side of the
cockpit and has a better view of the runway making left turns.

But, for IFR holds, there doesn't seem to be any advantage to one way or
the other. Why did they pick right turns to be standard?

Kevin Chandler wrote:
In a twin the thrust line is slightly to the right when climbing, just like
a single, which makes the plane yaw left, just like in a single. The left
engine in a twin is the "important" engine.

In most twins. However there are some that have no critical engine and
some that have both engines as critical.

"Herbert Paulis" wrote in message
...

VFR hold = left as pilot usually sits on left side and has better view
though
IFR hold = right 1) to better separate from VFR hold 2) no actual need to
look out, esp. in IMC


Where did you find that information on VFR holding? How would opposite
directions aid in separating VFR from IFR aircraft?

In most twins. However there are some that have no critical engine and
some that have both engines as critical.


I know that some planes have counter-rotating engines for the right side;
however, I never knew that planes existed with both engines critical. Are
you saying the counter rotating goes on the left and a normal engine on the
right? Is so, why???? What benefit would there be in that?

Just curious and learning something new everyday.

Kevin

What he is implying is that in some twins you have a major problem if you
lose either engine.

Mike
MU-2


"Kevin Chandler" wrote in message
...
In most twins. However there are some that have no critical engine and
some that have both engines as critical.


I know that some planes have counter-rotating engines for the right side;
however, I never knew that planes existed with both engines critical. Are
you saying the counter rotating goes on the left and a normal engine on
the
right? Is so, why???? What benefit would there be in that?

Just curious and learning something new everyday.

Kevin