Not long ago I asked an aircraft owner of many years' experience if he would be comfortable flying his ship from the right seat. I got the answer I expected. "I could do it if I had to," he said, "but I wouldn't feel comfortable." So we agreed that during one of our upcoming practice sessions, we would swap seats, adding a new dimension to what would have otherwise been a routine affair. m There is no reason why you should not feel comfortable flying from the "other" seat, but there are a variety of reasons why you should. Think of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's popular Pinch-Hitter training, the basic course given to nonpilot passengers who want to know just enough about an airplane to be able to bring it to earth safely if the pilot becomes incapacitated. The subject learns in the right seat, because that is where he or she will be seated if the anticipated trouble ever arises.
Tradition aside, there is no law that states that the pilot in command of an airplane must sit in the left seat-for example, a flight instructor giving dual instruction is usually considered the PIC, unless other arrangements have been made; and in any case, the CFI is the PIC when a student pilot is flying the airplane. Once I was asked by a seller of an aircraft to fly with the prospective buyer because, as the owner put it, "I can't be pilot in command in the right seat." Yes, he could have. But other reasons-such as the broken bones he had suffered in a construction accident at his home a few weeks before-made it a good idea for me to take over the demonstrator's role while the buyer, who had never piloted a high-performance aircraft before, flew.
Other reasons are equally compelling. Two private pilots traveling together on a cross-country might want to split up the flying duties without landing to swap positions. You may want to demonstrate your aircraft to a potential co-owner, giving him or her a chance to sit in the captain's chair and giving you a chance to evaluate the prospect's skills (and perhaps make a save if necessary). You might want to offer a nonpilot the view from the left front seat, possibly adding a new recruit to the pilot ranks. Or some day, you may have to play the role of pinch hitter. It would be better to assume this role with confidence, especially if a medical emergency is in progress, possibly compounded by difficult winds or weather.
For a pilot already certificated and experienced in a particular aircraft, right-seat familiarization training can be broken down into three phases: in normal flying, adjusting as necessary to the new visual references and the relative position of controls; practicing execution of maneuvers such as landings and go-arounds from the unfamiliar location; and learning "cross-panel" flight by reference to instruments. One two-hour flight with moderate helpings of all of these tasks will have most pilots on their way to right-seat comfort. Two or three more flights should dispel any remaining hesitancy, especially if augmented with recurrency sessions.
One interesting aspect of right-seat training is that it forces us to break habits that we may not even know we have developed. The first situation in which this may become evident is in the sight line we use when aligning the aircraft with the runway centerline on takeoffs and landings. Often, if a pilot is chronically slightly left of the centerline on landing, the same pilot now flying from the right seat will immediately begin to land chronically right of the centerline. The problem is that this pilot has been unconsciously (or otherwise) looking through the spinner at his aim point, instead of looking straight ahead; i.e., parallel to the longitudinal axis, out the front windscreen. To see this effect clearly, try the following experiment when you and another person are seated in the aircraft when it is shut down on the ramp: Each of you look through the tip of the spinner at a point in the distance. Report what you see. Now look straight ahead and make another report. In the first instance, the angle from the seat, through the spinner, to the point in the distance will take a left-seat pilot's view across the axis to the right, and vice versa. But when looking straight ahead at a point in the distance, you will be focused on essentially the same target, just as parallel rails seem to converge straight ahead. Now imagine this same effect if the airplane is in motion and the object in focus is the runway centerline. In other words, switching seats does not require a change in sight-line reference to make a directionally proper takeoff or landing. Practicing the technique may actually improve your left-seat landings as well.
Basic flying will be ho-hum from the right seat; most pilots have "fiddled" from the right seat in cruise while riding along as a chart folder and traffic spotter. It is when quick and unplanned actions are necessary that the discomfort factor kicks in. In a go-around, for example, locating everything you need in the fleeting seconds after making the decision can be hectic. In some aircraft, the flap switch is located directly beneath, or uncomfortably close to, the right-hand yoke, making for an awkward transition to climb configuration. Right-handed pilots dependent on their left hand for throttle, gear, flap, and avionics-switch controls may find themselves slow and fumbling at first.
Cross-panel instrument flying is probably the most demanding part of the transition. This is recommended here only as development of an emergency skill-don't launch on a right-seat IFR flight just to do something new and different. But a pilot flying from the left seat may become incapacitated under instrument conditions-and it will be your job to take over the flying. The key, as always, is to concentrate on your scanning. Remember that parallax, the angle from which you are viewing the instruments, will make compass and directional-gyro headings appear a few degrees different to you than to the other pilot (so don't start arguing about it). In many aircraft, instruments located to the left of the left-seat yoke are difficult to see from the right seat. Often located in these tight corners are tach-ometers, airspeed indicators, or the turn coordinator (which you will use for standard-rate turn indications while flying on instruments). Don't give yourself vertigo by sudden or repeated attempts to lean forward or sideways to view the indications. Situations like this make backup instruments mounted on the right side of the panel a true blessing.
Like any other piloting skill, right-seat flying will become second nature with regular and systematic practice. Best of all is that practicing flying from the "other" seat can take the routine out of routine training, sharpening all of your piloting skills.
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