Ask the Captain: Is it hard for pilots to have the stick on their non-dominant side?
On a few modern aircraft, I noticed that the pilots use a stick on their left or right side to control the plane instead of the center yoke. Is it difficult for a right-handed captain to use his left hand to fly the aircraft, and vice versa for a left-handed co-pilot to use his right hand?
– Mike Kirchberg, Chicago
Many airplanes have side sticks. Pilots learn to fly the airplane using both left and right sticks in the simulator. On commercial airliners, first officers fly in the right seat, using a right side stick while the captain, flying from the left seat, uses his or her left hand. It is not a hard transition. Modern side sticks are very intuitive to use.
John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.