PIC Seat

OK, so I know I’m going to get beat up by some of you guys for this but....

Spent 25+ years flying airplanes with a stick in the right hand and a throttle in the left. I find the more I fly my RV7A the less I like flying with my left hand. So, as I rebuild my panel this winter, what would stop me from building it to be flown primarily from the right seat? Resale value maybe, FARs (nothing I can find), brakes on both sides, potentially an insurance thing...?

Look forward to hearing rational comments

nothing. a lot of 6's an 7's have been set up that way.

bob burns
RV-4 N82RB

If we had brakes on the right side of our -6, I’d probably fly it from that side most of the time. I can fly just fine with either hand, but for some reason, the geometry of the -6 makes it feel like my left elbow is sort of trapped between the sidewall and my body. Totally flyable, just not as comfortable. But since we have no brakes on the right side….solo left seat only!

Set yours up the way you’d like, for sure.

Paul

Easiest thing to do is put a second throttle control on the left side for full dual controls. Pretty easy to do, and won't hurt resale. I can send pictures of my setup if you like. Bonus; it's a throttle lever and not a push/pull lollipop.

Resale????

Having built a few million dollar homes and hundreds of others. I always told my clients. DO NOT build it for resale, But, put in what you want.
I did a real nice expensive home for spec one time. The buyer tore out all the kitchen cabinets, slab counters, tile flooring, and the $6,500.00 home entertainment center I thought was just peachy. There was more but you get the idea.
Do what you want life is to short to build ^*)^) for other people
Anybody can learn to fly right or left seat in about 10 minutes.
My three cents worth Art

I plan to install a throttle on the left side for this very reason. After spending the last several hundreds of hours flying aerobatics, left hand on the stick just doesn't work for me either.
The RV7 in the hangar next to me was built for right seat solo. Works well for him.

What needs to be changed so that you can fly from your right seat now? My 6 has throttle, mixture, and prop center so can fly from either seat. May have to try it from the right seat soon as i prefer right hand on stick. Only thing that would be harder on mine is the current efis is on left side.

There's more to it than just which hand on the stick...
* Different sight picture, right seat vs left seat. Ask any brand new CFI
* Which hand works the avionics, part 1: Traditionally, avionics have been designed for center stack, pilot in the left seat, so that the pilot's hand doesn't obstruct the screen.
* Which hand works the avionics, part 2: on planes with glass cockpits, especially touch screens, if you're working the glass for all it's worth, switching screens, entering in waypoint names, changing frequencies a lot, would you rather be doing all that with your left hand? in turbulence?
* Some folks think "throttle should be closer" and reverse the order of the power knobs, ignoring the fact that on throttle quadrants -- choose your WWII fighter -- the throttle was always on the left, away from the pilot. And remember that even on custom motorcycles, location and function of major controls is still standardized.
* There's also the matter of possible negative transfer. Is there anything in your past that could cause problems flying right seat, or will any future flying be compromised because of all your planned right seat flying? Unlikely, but worth thinking about.

I'm now pretty much either side (CFII), either hand, wheels / sticks / side sticks, whatever. However, since almost all my time in the past five years has been left seat in the RV-9A, getting really comfortable in the right seat requires an hour of takeoffs and landings -- including looking at the flight instruments right ahead of me instead of looking across the cockpit. Then again, on this last trip, 28 RV hours, east coast to west and back, I gave dual in C172s, right seat, no problem.

The rest of the story is that transitioning to the left seat in the RV-9A took some doing, but there's more to that story. I had not flown in nine months due to highly invasive spinal surgery, had spent most of those nine months in bed recovering, and was working to get all systems going again. Plus, I had a whole bunch of distracting, new glass cockpit to learn.

As the saying goes, it's an experimental and you can do what you want. The rest of the statement is, but there may be subtle consequences that can bite you in the rear at some point.