Now that my flying lessons are squarely in the navigation and land away phases I have found that my cockpit organisation has gone completely out the window. I have identified one of the problems for me is that I write with my left hand. Seriously! Sounds silly but think about it for a second.
In the school Cessnas the PTT button is on the left hand side of the yoke. I have to reach across with my right hand to PTT whilst writing with my left which makes it harder to fly at the same time. Think about using your right foot on the brake pedal in a car.
The posh Pooley’s kneeboard I bought has the pen holder on the right hand side. I have the board on my left knee which causes the pens to get caught by the yoke. I can’t open the board fully because the hinge is on the left and the door prevents it opening. I tried wearing it on my right knee but then the PTT and pen maneuver appears a bit dodgy very bizarre indeed.
Keeping the chart and checklist down between me and the door works well but I generally fly using my left hand (my more precise hand and the PTT is there) leaving my right to operate radios, transponder etc. and point at my map. This then involves a lot of passing things back and forth. I don’t have this problem when solo and the P2 seat is free.
All the above might be minor in themselves but yesterday when we did a long flight with lots of frequency changes, nav under CAS, diversion planning etc., all these minor things got together and my altitude holding was not good and I found myself getting stressed, irritable and confused.
I have just been looking at these thanks to recommendation by @Buster1 thinking that it might help. It well might and I’ll probably get one to try.
But whilst looking it up on Youtube doing some extensive research on the subject, I came across a guy flying a Cirrus using one. Looked good. But the guy was right handed. Made me ask how the f*** do you fly a Cirrus and write stuff down at the same time if you are left handed? Obviously there is the autopilot but that cannot completely solve the problem can it?
Thanks for the assistance! I appreciate it.
Here’s a link to my article on the kneeboard, also, have a look around for other fun articles, war stories, and pilot gear.
http://engineout.weebly.com/articles/pilot-gear-kneeboards
I never thought of the right-/left-hand issue before an instructor of mine pointed out to me that he had problems taking notes when instructing in the Cirrus (right-handed). And now you are pointing out that the issue also exists in airplanes with yokes because of the location of the PTT.
Since the left-handed represent 10% of the population, everything is built for the right-handed, so as a right-handed I was never confronted with such an issue. And since I never flew from the right seat of a Cirrus and needed to take notes…
I am really curious how the 10% cope with this.
I guess the only chance is to learn to write simple stuff and symbols with the right hand … or only write when the plane is on A/P. I see no other solution. Maybe a clearance recorder could support you?
Alexis wrote:
I see no other solution
You could of course get a real plane 
You could also sit on the right side. Sitting left or right, using left or right hand in the stick, doesn’t matter to me (considering I can reach all the knobs). But, writing with my left hand? With lots of practice maybe? I have never really tried.
Sorry to hijack the thread – the Flyboys kneeboard suggested by @Buster1 looks like a truly excellent article, but it’s an American-made and probably too narrow for A5 sheets – or at least the page protectors offered on their site are, even the oversized ones are 140 mm wide instead of 148. Nate, since you have one, could you measure it – what’s the biggest page you can get in there? And what are ring positions?
I fly with that kneeboard almost daily as instructor. A5 sheets work fine when used with just 3 rings. I use Leitz 4705 page protectors, they’re a bit thicker and opaque and don’t look shabby after a couple of flight hours.
I am left handed (for writing) too and I fly Cirrus. It has never been a problem for me. I wonder why. Probably because
a) I don’t write down much during flying
b) mostly just IFR clearances (usually on the ground)
c) I mostly fly on autopilot
But the key I think is not writing down much in the first place.
You could also sit on the right side.
You cannot do that. The avionics installation and some other controls don’t allow that. For example you could not reach the circuit breaker panel. In Germany (I don’t know about other countries) it would also not be legal, only CFIs can be pilots in command in the right seat.
I think any left handed person can learn to write down some numbers with their right hand.
Alexis wrote:
only CFIs can be pilots in command in the right seat
Can’t be right. On the Saab Safir, the normal place for the PIC is on the right (ergonomics design and layout of instruments). Helicopters are flown from the right seat, very often at least..
