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2nd Control Stick on Cross country

NYTOM

NYTOM

Well Known Member
Just wondering what some of you guys flying side by side RV's do on long trips with your wives or girlfriends who don't fly themselves. Do any of you have a removable stick in the passenger seat. I can just hear my wife complaining about the stick while she trying to knit, read a book or do whatever girls do on long flights. Does a removable stick sound stupid. We have a lot of couples on this site that take regular trips to very exciting places. What do you do on those long flights?
 
I take it out

I rigged it with a hole for a bolt or pin. The only time it's in place is when I have a check pilot on board. I keep it in the plane, of course.
 
NYTOM said:
Just wondering what some of you guys flying side by side RV's do on long trips with your wives or girlfriends who don't fly themselves. Do any of you have a removable stick in the passenger seat. I can just hear my wife complaining about the stick while she trying to knit, read a book or do whatever girls do on long flights. Does a removable stick sound stupid. We have a lot of couples on this site that take regular trips to very exciting places. What do you do on those long flights?
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Your idea does not sound stupid to me at all. During construction, I anticipated the need for a removable joystick so I mounted the passenger PTT on the sill. I do find that approximately 20% of the time, the joystick is stowed in the baggage compartment. Sometimes, I find it handy to have the passenger seat unobstructed, even when flying solo. Other times, I routinely remove the stick for a few moments when an elderly handicapped friend of mine climbs aboard. He has limited muscle control and having the stick out of the way makes ingress and egress much easier for him. When he is finally settled into his seat, I insert the stick into its socket.

When I took transition training in his RV in 2005, during one particular flight my instructor thought he would unnerve me when he pulled his joystick out of its socket and said "Uh oh." I laughed and said "mine is removable too." Be aware: Vans does recommend the installed joystick be secured, most usually by a pin of some sort.

jtucev.jpg
 
NYTOM said:
Just wondering what some of you guys flying side by side RV's do on long trips with your wives or girlfriends who don't fly themselves. Do any of you have a removable stick in the passenger seat. I can just hear my wife complaining about the stick while she trying to knit, read a book or do whatever girls do on long flights. Does a removable stick sound stupid. We have a lot of couples on this site that take regular trips to very exciting places. What do you do on those long flights?
Click to expand...

A removable passenger control stick is very common. Mine (RV-6) stays attached to the outboard seat pan beside the passenger seat unless a "pilot" passenger is aboard.
 
I leave the right side stick out 90% of the time. My wife is not a pilot and likes it better with it out. If I am flying with another pilot, I'll put it in.

I use a small molex connector to connect the PTT when the stick is in place. The stick itself is just a friction fit. If I were flying it solo from the right seat I would want it to be more secure but I'll never do that because there are no brakes on the right side. For the occasional use, the friction fit works fine.
 
Rick6a said:
When I took transition training in his RV in 2005, during one particular flight my instructor thought he would unnerve me when he pulled his joystick out of its socket and said "Uh oh." I laughed and said "mine is removable too."
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This reminds me of the apocryphal story of the WWII Tiger Moth instructor who would habitually remove his control column and tap the student on the head with it before throwing it overboard.

On one particular occasion, the student, apparently thinking this was "instruction" promptly did the same. The instructor, furiously signalling to his student to do likewise, unbuckled himself and departed the aircraft via parachute.

Whereupon the student, having been forewarned of this instructor's unique style of instruction, fitted a third control stick that had been previously stowed aboard and landed the aircraft.
 
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Yep. I used a spring button out of a broken kayak paddle. And put the PTT on the panel in front of the pax.

RV7294.jpg


my wife says, "she wants no controls on her side, flying is your thing."
 
Thanks for the info guys

Great response to my question. I think I want to make it a quick change type using one of those spring pins Terry suggested. Who'd a thunk you could even buy one of those things. I thought I was going to have to sacrifice a big beach umbrella to get one. :eek:Thanks Terry.
terrykohler said:
Tom:
I got this solution from another RVer:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#92988a650/=87cfm7

Aren't forums great?
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP
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And thanks to everyone else for the input. My bride doesn't want anything to do with flying and that stick would make for a lot of complaining.:mad: A PTT on the side wall makes it perfect.
Yes Terry,forums ARE great. I don't know what the heck I'd do without this one.! :D
 
Just make sure if you're ever going to do any formation training requiring a safety pilot that the stick is well secured!
 
I agree with the others - make it easily removable, and it will be out more than it is in. Makes loading cargo on the right seat a lot easier, and I don't like having the wing removal lever in front of passengers whom I don't really know that well. Much more comfortable for the px as well (unless they are a pilot!).
 
Vote for leaving it in

My stick is relatively easy to remove with one bolt and a sub-D connector. I have never removed it in 228 hrs. My wife will not even take the controls for a few minutes while I check the map but she also has not had any issue with it being in place. So why do I leave it in? My son, who is now taking flying lessons, and many of my other passengers/friends are pilots who I welcome to take the controls.
 
terrykohler said:
Tom:
I got this solution from another RVer:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#92988a650/=87cfm7

Aren't forums great?
Terry, CFI
RV-9A N323TP
Click to expand...

I did the same and used an RC battery connector from Hobby Town, pictured below, to connect the PTT on the passenger stick.

6E8097F9-871C-494E-AE21-518A4A96D5BD.jpg


As for leaving the stick in. With my wife it is 50/50. Local flights she wants it in and on long flights, I remove it.

BTW, I gave a chapter member a ride in my RV and thought he would like to try flying my RV so I left it in, he did not. He was so FAT that I couldn't flair to land. Heck, he even made it difficult to wheel land my -9. Finally I dragged it in and added a burst of power just as we were about to touch and that got the nose up enough for an uneventful landing.
 
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On long cross country flights with my wife, I remove the stick.
When I bring young people on first flight or discovery flights, I attach it.
I never routed any wiring thru the stick as I wanted the ability to remove it.
I always bring the stick with me in case my passenger wants to fly.
 
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