The first thing I realized when starting my PPL is that yes I can fly with my left hand, even though I am super right handed.
Now after a couple hundred hours, whenever I find myself on the right seat and have to fly for some minutes, I find it very awkward, even though it’s supposed to be my good hand. I once flew a plane with a stick, it was equally awkward.
Muscle memory is powerful.
Although I learned to fly with stick and right hand (gliders), I also find a bit awkward flying the same setup from right seat in DA42. When I was flying with yoke in TB20 or C172/C182, I didn’t find so much difference left/right hand.
mh wrote:
Go fly a BE35 or Bellanca Viking and then a 7GCBC or Cub
Ummmm, the first two have pretty reasonable aileron response, particularly for the type of aircraft they are. The last two are awful, particularly the Citabria. Better with spades, I flew the same Citabria with and without, but still heavy and slow to respond.
(Edit – I now realize that was your point… 
that yoke or stick is not the issue in determining control response)
@Silvaire exactly. The A211 has a completely different airframe than the TB20 or the C172. It has nothing to do with the controls.
Plus: Every low time pilot, like MedEwok, has a strong bias towards their first plane. Nothing will feel as comfy as the first trainer within the first couple of hours.
mh wrote:
That has nothing to do with the stick vs yoke. Go fly a BE35 or Bellanca Viking and then a 7GCBC or Cub. Or an SF25.Go fly many types to learn what matters. Control elements are a minor factor.
I want to get to get to know various types. None of those you mentioned are for rent here, however. The school I’m now renting from has several UL types (Eurostar SL, Savage, Bristell) as well as the A210, a C150 and a C172. They also have just bought a PA-28.
First priority is getting “back into flying” at all, and this is best done on a familiar type.
Le_Sving wrote:
Maybe the A210 simply is a very good plane to fly. That’s what I have heard, have never flown one myself, but would like to.
You have much more experience than I, I would really like to know what you think of it if you ever get to fly the Aquila. I do think it is a very good plane to fly, but I also lack comparison. Neither of the other two types I have flown, C172 or TB20, is really in the same class. The Aquila has only 750kg MTOW and you’ll get rocked around a fair bit more due to that and lower wing loading.
The A211 has a completely different airframe than the TB20 or the C172. It has nothing to do with the controls.
Plus: Every low time pilot, like MedEwok, has a strong bias towards their first plane. Nothing will feel as comfy as the first trainer within the first couple of hours.
I wonder how a C172 would fly with a center stick.
I fully agree with your bias towards the first plane. I was surprised how in this case total hours on type totally beat currency. I hadn’t flown the Aquila for nearly two years and flew much better than in the C172, which is my most “recent” plane.
You need to come to Hahnweide and ask the BirdDog owners around, that’s basically a 172 with a stick.
The company where bosco charters the aircraft have a Beech 35 you could fly once.
BTW it’s almost an art to fly a C172 badly.
I also trained in a stick-equipped aircraft, then my first 25-30 hours post skills test were in the A210. I took it for granted at the time and wanted to start flying a bigger, heavier, yoke equipped aircraft. The lack of lap space was a slight annoyance with the A210 and P2002 for me, I couldn’t wear a kneeboard or anything. Now I realise I took the stick for granted and would love to go back to flying the A210! The only thing I think it’s missing is a bit more power.
Like others, I love being able to just rest my arm on my thigh throughout all phases of flight. I found the Aquila was perfectly controllable (including take off and landing) with a thumb and two fingers on the stick and my forearm on my thigh. It is incredibly responsive.
NinerEchoPapa wrote:
Like others, I love being able to just rest my arm on my thigh throughout all phases of flight. I found the Aquila was perfectly controllable (including take off and landing) with a thumb and two fingers on the stick and my forearm on my thigh. It is incredibly responsive.
Thanks for putting into words what I really like about the Aquila. As a tall guy I found the issue with limited “knee space” less relevant, it was worse in the TB20 which doesn’t have space for any part of my body (I was basically permanently wedged between seat and cabin roof). The C172 was much better in that regard, with lots of additional room, but the way you have to hold the yoke is less relaxed than holding the stick in the Aquila the way you described.
There are so many different configurations, and my aircraft over the years have changed from side stick in right hand (c42 microlight) to stick in centre, and mostly stayed in the centre since. This meant in the early days I swapped from right to left hand with the stick and I ended up happy flying with either hand. I then flew helicopters from left and right seat and am now doing the fixed wing instructor course from the right seat.
throughout all of this, and ten years, I managed only 12 hours behind a yoke and I thought i hated it. The instructor course is on a Cessna 152 and I’m growing fonder and fonder of it. It’s over weight, under powered and boring but what a great training platform! Handling wise there’s no doubt that a stick is more natural and more responsive, the control axis are just more logical, but I’m no longer a hater :)
