Right Seat Learning

A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---

How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)

I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.

The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

Dan

wrote:
A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---

How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)

I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.

The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

Dan

Flying from the right seat simply involves getting used to some new
peripheral cues as far as accurate reading of instruments and parallax
is concerned. It also involves a switch of hands for control use ( as a
CFI you better get used to having that left hand in the throttle READY
position :-)) and some adjustment in nose attitude vs horizon reference
in turns.
Switching seats should pose little problems that a good checkout with an
instructor completely familiar with the above issues can't straighten
out for you pretty quickly.
A little practice time and it will all fit into place.



--
Dudley Henriques

On Feb 25, 10:21 am, Dudley Henriques wrote:
wrote:
A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---

How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)

I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.

The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

Dan

Flying from the right seat simply involves getting used to some new
peripheral cues as far as accurate reading of instruments and parallax
is concerned. It also involves a switch of hands for control use ( as a
CFI you better get used to having that left hand in the throttle READY
position :-)) and some adjustment in nose attitude vs horizon reference
in turns.
Switching seats should pose little problems that a good checkout with an
instructor completely familiar with the above issues can't straighten
out for you pretty quickly.
A little practice time and it will all fit into place.

--
Dudley Henriques

You're right, but man those first few landings yesterday were dope
slaps. They weren't terrible (the owner who was riding in the left
seat would have stopped that!), but I knew they weren't right. Some
side loading, high flare, etc.

My first CFI dual time is scheduled this week and next. If the weather
allows (Which is doesn't look like it will) most dual will be in a
C172E with an aerobatics CFI to learn all the stupid pilot tricks and
recovery.

Next week is tailwheel time in a Champ or J-3 (whichever is available)

Dan

wrote:
On Feb 25, 10:21 am, Dudley Henriques wrote:
wrote:
A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---
How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)
I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.
The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.
After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....
Dan
Flying from the right seat simply involves getting used to some new
peripheral cues as far as accurate reading of instruments and parallax
is concerned. It also involves a switch of hands for control use ( as a
CFI you better get used to having that left hand in the throttle READY
position :-)) and some adjustment in nose attitude vs horizon reference
in turns.
Switching seats should pose little problems that a good checkout with an
instructor completely familiar with the above issues can't straighten
out for you pretty quickly.
A little practice time and it will all fit into place.

--
Dudley Henriques

You're right, but man those first few landings yesterday were dope
slaps. They weren't terrible (the owner who was riding in the left
seat would have stopped that!), but I knew they weren't right. Some
side loading, high flare, etc.

My first CFI dual time is scheduled this week and next. If the weather
allows (Which is doesn't look like it will) most dual will be in a
C172E with an aerobatics CFI to learn all the stupid pilot tricks and
recovery.

Next week is tailwheel time in a Champ or J-3 (whichever is available)

Dan





You won't have any trouble. Just relax and be aware of the cue
differences and you'll do just fine.
I'm one of the "old school" instructors who believe that pilots should
learn to fly airplanes with a free throttle hand in mind at all times.
This means I've taught every pilot I've ever trained to have a hand on
the throttle from pattern altitude on down or the other way around.
As a CFI, this becomes especially important with a caveat. You shouldn't
have your hand actually ON the throttle, but it ABSOLUTELY MUST be in a
constant READY TO ACT relaxed position in case a correction is needed
down low, especially on landings.
This means you have to get used to flying with the right hand on the
yoke (assuming a side by side with a yoke installed). or on the stick if
so equipped.
There are TWO controls you must always be ready as a CFI to "correct"
instantly but not actually be riding on a student. They are equally
important, and are the rudder, and the throttle.
The depth in error before intervention down low for aileron is a wider
range than it is for either rudder or throttle.
Take your time and get used to flying from the right seat.


--
Dudley Henriques

On Feb 25, 11:17 am, Dudley Henriques wrote:
wrote:
On Feb 25, 10:21 am, Dudley Henriques wrote:
wrote:
A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---
How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)
I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.
The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.
After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....
Dan
Flying from the right seat simply involves getting used to some new
peripheral cues as far as accurate reading of instruments and parallax
is concerned. It also involves a switch of hands for control use ( as a
CFI you better get used to having that left hand in the throttle READY
position :-)) and some adjustment in nose attitude vs horizon reference
in turns.
Switching seats should pose little problems that a good checkout with an
instructor completely familiar with the above issues can't straighten
out for you pretty quickly.
A little practice time and it will all fit into place.

--
Dudley Henriques

You're right, but man those first few landings yesterday were dope
slaps. They weren't terrible (the owner who was riding in the left
seat would have stopped that!), but I knew they weren't right. Some
side loading, high flare, etc.

My first CFI dual time is scheduled this week and next. If the weather
allows (Which is doesn't look like it will) most dual will be in a
C172E with an aerobatics CFI to learn all the stupid pilot tricks and
recovery.

Next week is tailwheel time in a Champ or J-3 (whichever is available)

Dan

You won't have any trouble. Just relax and be aware of the cue
differences and you'll do just fine.
I'm one of the "old school" instructors who believe that pilots should
learn to fly airplanes with a free throttle hand in mind at all times.
This means I've taught every pilot I've ever trained to have a hand on
the throttle from pattern altitude on down or the other way around.
As a CFI, this becomes especially important with a caveat. You shouldn't
have your hand actually ON the throttle, but it ABSOLUTELY MUST be in a
constant READY TO ACT relaxed position in case a correction is needed
down low, especially on landings.
This means you have to get used to flying with the right hand on the
yoke (assuming a side by side with a yoke installed). or on the stick if
so equipped.
There are TWO controls you must always be ready as a CFI to "correct"
instantly but not actually be riding on a student. They are equally
important, and are the rudder, and the throttle.
The depth in error before intervention down low for aileron is a wider
range than it is for either rudder or throttle.
Take your time and get used to flying from the right seat.

--
Dudley Henriques

Good advice!

The Vernier throttle on the A36 takes some practice -- it's a long
reach.

My primary CFI drilled the throttle thing into me by pulling it back
whenever I would drop my hand.

Dan

" wrote in news:4501fd99-b835-4e7a-
:

A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---

How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)


Took me about an hour, I think.

I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.

The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....


Yeah, doesn't take long for rust to set in! If I haven't flown for a couple
of weeks I find myself loking at stuff in the cockpit and trying to
remember what it does.


Bertie

wrote:
A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---

How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)

I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.

The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

Dan

As I recall it took me about 10 hours to feel comfortable and competent
in the right hand seat. I am extremely right handed (I look like a freak
trying to throw a baseball with my left arm) so that may have been part
of it.

On Feb 25, 12:07 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

Yeah, doesn't take long for rust to set in! If I haven't flown for a couple
of weeks I find myself loking at stuff in the cockpit and trying to
remember what it does.

Bertie

True, that.

That probably explains 70% of the ugliness.

It's been a while since I've had that long a break...

This winter in the Pittsburgh area has been absolutely horrid.

Dan

On Feb 25, 6:50*am, " wrote:
A question to all the CFIs on the board who actually remember ---

How many hours in the right seat before you felt as competent in the
right as in the left? (In a side by side, not a tandem, Bertie)

I flew right seat for the first time in a couple of weeks and I felt
as co-ordinated on landings as a drunken penguin.

The rest (Steep turns, ground reference, etc) was smooth and exceeded
PTS Comm standards.

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

I would say that it probably took me a good 8 hours to actually feel
comfortable flying from the right seat. You can learn that the vis
picture is different but there is something that just felt very odd at
first.

-Robert, CFII

" wrote in
:

On Feb 25, 12:07 pm, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

After about 8 stop and goes things smoothed out....

Yeah, doesn't take long for rust to set in! If I haven't flown for a
couple of weeks I find myself loking at stuff in the cockpit and
trying to remember what it does.

Bertie

True, that.

That probably explains 70% of the ugliness.

It's been a while since I've had that long a break...

This winter in the Pittsburgh area has been absolutely horrid.

The good news is it comes back pretty quick!


Bertie