OK, we all know that Americans drive on the left side of their vehicles, and that the British, Australians, and a host of others drive on the right side of their vehicles. So much for the setup.
Now, supposing an Australian owns a Cessna, where there are identical controls on both sides of the vehicle. Would he automatically take the right seat, from which he is accustomed (sp?) to driving his car?
Also, I know that pleasure boats sold in the U.S. have their controls on the right side of the boat, opposite to where the owner of the boat would find the controls of his car. Having never seen a British or Australian pleasure boat, I am compelled to ask: are the controls of your boats over on the left side, opposite to where you’d find the controls of your car?
In an airplane the pilot is always on the left, except possibly in small private planes, in which it really doesn’t matter…does a Cessna even have dual controls?
When I was in Sweden in July, I noticed that the trains drove on the left, even though the cars drove on the right. I believe that Sweden, like Nova Scotia, used to drive its cars on the left as well and switched for compatibility with neighbouring territories.
And of course in the UK the trains drove on the left.
But for railways this is much less important, because trains are scheduled and the schedule can call for driving “on any track in either direction” (lau the warnings on the commuter trains in Toronto).
The Chicago Northwestern line (commuter rail) drives on the left from Chicago to the western suburbs (and vice versa). As far as I know, this is not generally the case for US rail lines.
Quite right. We switched to driving on the right side of the roads in 1967. One reason that the switchover went as smooth as it did (as in Austria, also some time in the sixties, IIRC) was that all cars, for some odd reason, already had the controls on the left side, as opposed to Britain and other countries that still drive on the left side. Only buses and trams had to be rebuilt or exchanged for new ones.
As for the trains (and underground trains in Stockholm) there was really no reason to change as they don’t interact with the road traffic.
In regular aircraft, the pilot in command (i.e. … the guy in charge, and not the co-pilot, if any) sits on the left side. The throttle control(s) are normally in the center, so that they are convienent for a right-handed person, but quite useable from the right side seat as well. As far as I know, US built aircraft made for the UK/Australian/New Zealand market still follow US practice of the pilot in command on the left side. I don’t know but would like to find out if British-made big aircraft like the Comet or even the Shackelton or Lancaster were set up with the pilot in command on the right or left.
Something that you’ll often see movies and TV get wrong is that they typically have the pilot in command in helicopters on the left as well, assuming that it’s just like any other flying machine. Also, I reckon this practice lets the real pilot fly from the (correct for a helicopter) right side seat while some actor pretends to do so from the left seat. Helios are usually flown from the right seat because of the way the controls are laid out. Usually there is a control between the two front seats called (I think) the cyclic. It controls (in layman’s terms) the dimensional movements that aren’t possible in a regular aircraft.
The pilot sits on the left, as has been noted. While most light aircraft have dual controls, there is usually only one set of flight instruments. Instruments are expensive and take up space, so it would be impractical to put dual instrumentation in your typical Bugsmasher 150. The primary flight instruments are on the left, but the aircraft can be flown from the right.
The captain sits in the left seat in transport aircraft.
I don’t know as a fact (and I’ve packed away my reference books), but I’m personally certain that Comets, Lancasters and Shackeltons were commanded from the left seat.
Helicopters are flown from the right seat – usually. The R-22 may only be flown from the right seat when the pilot is solo. The Scheizer 300CBs I’ve seen are all set up for right-side operation, but they can be delivered set up for left-hand operation. The controls aren’t the issue in this case. Rather, it’s weight and balance. I won’t get technical, but you don’t want the pilot and the primary fuel tank on the same side.
My personal theory (and I don’t have any evidence for this) is that the helicopter pilot traditionally flies on the right because helicopters are inherently unstable. Since the cyclic control must be held at all times, and it’s in the right hand, only the left hand is free to work the radio(s), set instruments, scratch, etc.
Some helis are flown from the left seat. I can’t afford to fly those, so I don’t know why. A friend of mine flew Blackhawks in Desert Storm, and she said she prefered to sit on the left. I do know that a Schweizer or an Enstrom can have a third seat added. You have to take out the collective lever between the seats and “fill the gap” with a cushion. That only leaves the left-seat collective, so the pilot sits on the left.
Commuter trains in the DC area normally run like cars do, on the right, but don’t have too. I’ve seen them run on the “wrong” side a number of times, it just depends on what side is free at the time. I don’t know much about boats or planes even though I have made both Nautical and Aeronautical charts. I work the the Aero stuff now but none of the pilots seem to be here today. I’ll look though my books and ask around to see if someone knows for sure though.