"Tim" wrote in message
..

I was told back in the 50's when I was in the Navy as a mech, that the
reason the pilot was on the right was that in a ditching situation the a/c
would pitch left on contact with the water and pull the a/c to the left. At
that time the most likely guy riding shotgun was a JO or an enlisted man
watching the engines ect. It was just a matter of economics, the PIC being
the more valuable of the two.

Jack

Old Fart Rotorhead