Right seat policies

In small aircraft, if I understand correctly, there's no law that says
you can't put anyone you want in the right seat, as long as there's a
licensed pilot in command. So, what are your right-seat policies? Do
you put passengers in the seat? Only other pilots? Kids? Do you
ever have your pilot or non-pilot right-seat passenger help with any
part of the flight (reading charts, radio, autopilot, or actually
flying)?

Do pilots consider the right seat a place of honor for special guests
or passengers, or is it just another place to seat someone?

If you're married, does your spouse ride in the right seat? If so, is
he or she a pilot, too? If you have kids, do they ride up front?

Some people are prone to motion sickness if they aren't riding in one
of the front seats of a car. Is this true for aircraft, too (that is,
are there people who get motion sickness in a small plane if they
aren't riding up front)?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

I always sit in the right seat.

I don't care who's sitting next to me or in the back, as long as
they're not throwing the W&B out of whack. I don't recall ever flying
with passenger(s) and not having somebody sit up front. If we're out
for a joyride, I'll always let my tag-alongs fly for a while (trim and
rudders are still there, and most people don't catch on too quickly as
to what I'm doing).

Mxsmanic wrote:
In small aircraft, if I understand correctly, there's no law that says
you can't put anyone you want in the right seat, as long as there's a
licensed pilot in command. So, what are your right-seat policies? Do
you put passengers in the seat? Only other pilots? Kids? Do you
ever have your pilot or non-pilot right-seat passenger help with any
part of the flight (reading charts, radio, autopilot, or actually
flying)?

Do pilots consider the right seat a place of honor for special guests
or passengers, or is it just another place to seat someone?

If you're married, does your spouse ride in the right seat? If so, is
he or she a pilot, too? If you have kids, do they ride up front?

Some people are prone to motion sickness if they aren't riding in one
of the front seats of a car. Is this true for aircraft, too (that is,
are there people who get motion sickness in a small plane if they
aren't riding up front)?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Strange question. I don't really care who sits in the right seat,
although I've never flown children. I don't think I'd like a child in
the front, they mess with stuff. I even let pretty much anyone fly...my
brother once made a 90 degree turn in IMC and it was the highlight of
his month (and a near heart attack for me).

Sometimes I sit in the right seat, even solo. Except in one of the
twins I fly, because there are only brakes on the left. g

One thing I never do is fly in the back. I have been airsick back there
once, I feel a loss of control, and don't want to be liable for
something stupid the person up front does. I've never gotten a clear
answer on the liability issue, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Emily wrote:

Strange question. I don't really care who sits in the right seat,
although I've never flown children. I don't think I'd like a child in
the front, they mess with stuff. I even let pretty much anyone fly...my
brother once made a 90 degree turn in IMC and it was the highlight of
his month (and a near heart attack for me).

Flying kids can be fun though; ever volunteered to fly 'Young Eagles'?
In my (limited) experience, they don't mess with stuff when flying;
actually the only really disruptive passengers I have had were
adults, folks who cannot stand the idea of not being in control,
not kids. What surprised me a couple of times is that even when
offered to fly the aircraft, some people decline, either not
interested, or worried about breaking something (even when assured
that it wouldn't be the case); I cannot imagine declining to play
with the controls if offered to do so aboard any kind of machinery!
but may be is it just me :-)

Sometimes I sit in the right seat, even solo.

that's what I do these days; still trying to finish this
CFI thing started an awful long time ago.

One thing I never do is fly in the back. I have been airsick back there
once, I feel a loss of control,

I have done that a couple of times on CAP flights and quite frankly
I don't enjoy it very much for the same reasons; it might not be
so bad if I were just a passenger enjoying the view, but I was
busy doing stuff in the back (plotting things on charts, taking
pictures, working on the laptop) and I was not really happy at the
end of the flights...

--Sylvain

Sylvain wrote:
Emily wrote:

Flying kids can be fun though; ever volunteered to fly 'Young Eagles'?
Nah. I don't like being around children much anyway. I wouldn't say I
hate them, but I don't want to go out of my way to be around them. I'll
stick with teaching adults to fly.

What surprised me a couple of times is that even when
offered to fly the aircraft, some people decline
It took my brother four flights to even put his hands on the controls.
He was scared that if I took my hands off the controls, we'd crash.

I have done that a couple of times on CAP flights and quite frankly
I don't enjoy it very much for the same reasons;
CAP requires sitting in the back? rethinks going to that meeting this week
The loss of control I can learn to deal with, but I hate the motion
sickness. I don't get it on commercial flights, though, go figure.

Emily wrote:

CAP requires sitting in the back? rethinks going to that meeting this
week The loss of control I can learn to deal with, but I hate the motion
sickness. I don't get it on commercial flights, though, go figure.

depends what job you are doing that day; on aircraft that allow
it (CAP has a 60hp per person rule), the pilot and observer sit
in front, scanners (or other roles, e.g., SDIS, etc.) sit in
the back; you can avoid it by flying aircraft that only take
two crews :-) and you got to qualify as a scanner before becoming
a mission pilot. Oh, and the whole qualifications thing takes
for bloody ever, even if you already know the material inside
out... It is as much a test of patience and dedication
as it is a test of skill :-) -- I keep at it because I am
a very patient person, but mostly because I got to hang around
really nice people.

--Sylvain

Emily wrote:

Nah. I don't like being around children much anyway. I wouldn't say I
hate them, but I don't want to go out of my way to be around them. I'll
stick with teaching adults to fly.

Today's young innocent faces, are tomorrow's clientele.

Of course, it was flying YE that I had my engine failure. The kids
(8 year old cub scouts) were ready to go up again. I had to point
out that I didn't think my plane was going to be able to fly again.

What was nicer was two out of the three parents actually waited around
the airport until I was done dealing with the state police and other
hassles to thank me for bringing their kids back alive. Similarly,
I got a letter from the EAA YE office thanking me for not killing any
Young Eagles.

Sylvain wrote:


Flying kids can be fun though; ever volunteered to fly 'Young Eagles'?
In my (limited) experience, they don't mess with stuff when flying;
actually the only really disruptive passengers I have had were
adults,

I fly Young Eagles. Some where around 11 or 12 you can find
a kid interested in aviation and I find the most interested one
and put him in the right side so he can have the opportunity
to control the aircraft. Younger than ten, they tend to chatter
away like it was an amusement park ride so I don't bother.

On Oct 15, 5:03 pm, Emily wrote:
Strange question. I don't really care who sits in the right seat,
although I've never flown children. I don't think I'd like a child in
the front, they mess with stuff. I even let pretty much anyone fly...my
brother once made a 90 degree turn in IMC and it was the highlight of
his month (and a near heart attack for me).

I was taking a cousin, his wife, and one of his kids for a flight
once... I put the lighter people in the back (i.e. the wife and kid)...
I told my cousin that under no circumstances was he to touch the
controls... I even asked them if any of them had a tendency for motion
sickness and if so, there were some plastic bags in the pouches behind
the front seats... Of course, they wanted to go see their place from
the air and during one of the turns while orbiting the place, my cousin
panics and grabs the yoke in a death grip... I proceeded to put my
right elbow into his ribs / chest with a force sufficient to break his
grip, if not also break his ribs... The teenage kid also got sick and
puked in the plane, not managing to get it into the plastic bag...
That's been quite a few years ago and come to think of it, I don't
think that I've seen or talked to any of them since then... Moral of
the story -- don't fly with anyone in the front seat that you're not
willing or able to knock unconscious if it comes to that... Secondary
moral of the story, use large barf bags and tie them over the kid's
head before the flight -- it's not like they have any brain cells that
could be killed from the lack of oxygen anyway...

My daughter sometimes flies up front in the right seat, sometimes in
the rear... When she was younger, she was all that keen about staying
in one place, so she would climb forward to look over the seats one
minute and climb back to look into the baggage area the next minute...
Let's just say that trying to keep an aircraft trimmed for a constant
altitude in this sort of situation ends up being a constant battle...

Mxsmanic wrote:
In small aircraft, if I understand correctly, there's no law that says
you can't put anyone you want in the right seat, as long as there's a
licensed pilot in command.

There's no requirement that you can't put them in the left seat. It's
commonly done when the right seat pilot is also a flight instructor,
but it could be any legal pilot.

So, what are your right-seat policies? Do
you put passengers in the seat?

Most people treat the right seat as the first passenger seat. I'll
let anybody sit there. If they show an interest in aviation and
conditions don't contraindicate it, I'll let them fly. For those
really interested, I'll let them operate the radios etc...

If you're married, does your spouse ride in the right seat? If so, is
he or she a pilot, too? If you have kids, do they ride up front?

My spouse is half the time in the right seat, and half the time in
the left (she's also a pilot). I've let my kids fly in the right
seat as welll.

Some people are prone to motion sickness if they aren't riding in one
of the front seats of a car. Is this true for aircraft, too (that is,
are there people who get motion sickness in a small plane if they
aren't riding up front)?

Definitely. The forces of the plane work around the center of
gravity which is usually some where around the back of the front
seat. The rear seat of some aircraft will drift around a lot
more than the front. The closest I ever came to being sick in
a small plane was riding in the back of a 182 on a gusty day,
lots of swinging back and forth.