Piper doors, why the passenger side?

dennis brown wrote:

Another reason is that it is easier to reach the prop and pull it down
to start. Have you seen the old picture of the pilot doing this?
Solo. In flight. Prop is stopped. Pilot standing on right gear, left hand
holding onto plane.


I will pay good money to see a cherokee pilot do this. Just tell me
when and where.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message ...
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:
Back when Piper was building only aircraft that didn't have a "passenger
side", aircraft with tandem seating, the door was on the right side because
there was throttle linkage on the left.

Which of course raises the question, "Why is the throttle linkage on the
left"?

Because you hold the stick with your right hand.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...

Which of course raises the question, "Why is the throttle linkage on the
left"?


Because it's easier to manipulate with the free hand.

"James Blakely" wrote in
message ...

Actually, I asked the Piper representative this very question the last
time I attended their factory open house. The reason is that during
emergency
egress, the pilot should be the last one out. (Captain of the ship.)


Then why did they put a rear door on the PA-32?

"Tony Cox" wrote in message
nk.net...

Ah, but in that case, wouldn't it have been best to have put the door at
the *back* to give the rear-seaters a chance to get out?


Some Piper light aircraft did have a door at the back. The four-place
PA-16, PA-20, and PA-22 had doors on the right for the front seats and on
the left for the rear seats.

"David Megginson" wrote in message
...

I was talking about the PA-28. I'm sure that they considered the
issue when they moved from tandem to side-by-side, and then from
high-wing to low-wing, and made a deliberate choice in each case to
keep the door on the right side.


Piper's first side-by-side was the J-4 Cub Coupe of 1939. It had a door on
each side.

Why do all you hidebound traditionalists insist on flying the plane
from the left seat? Is there an operating limitation on your licence?

Don

Seems like door openings are a weak spot for the airframe. One on each side
would help balance that out.
Also, the doors would either swing into each other, or the rear door would
block the people from exiting or entering through the front door while the
rear door is open.
Wayne


"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
k.net...

"James Blakely" wrote in
message
...

Actually, I asked the Piper representative this very question the last
time I attended their factory open house. The reason is that during
emergency
egress, the pilot should be the last one out. (Captain of the ship.)


Then why did they put a rear door on the PA-32?

Roy Smith wrote:

Which of course raises the question, "Why is the throttle linkage on the
left"?

That's simple enough. The French put it there.

George Patterson
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that cannot
be learned any other way. Samuel Clemens

G.R. Patterson III wrote:


Roy Smith wrote:

Which of course raises the question, "Why is the throttle linkage on the
left"?


That's simple enough. The French put it there.

And they've been wrong with every decision they have ever made.