The bag in the pax seat

[Keith Smith]

Have received numerous suggestions about the bag in the passenger side being a safety issue with the rudder pedals. Normally, they'd be right.

However, there are no rudder pedals on the passenger side of this airplane.

[Nelson L.]

Um, isn't that a hazard in itself? What if the PIC were to become incapacitated and the co-pilot had to make a landing with 20 knots of crosswind?!!!

[Keith Smith]

There is no requirement to have fully functioning dual controls.

[Nelson L.]

Hmm, interesting. In your opinion(s), do you think that having dual controls is safer in the event that the co-pilot needs to fly? I find it hard to imagine that the co-pilot would be ecstatic about not having yaw controls at his disposal in the event of an emergency.

[zengei]

Hmm, interesting. In your opinion(s), do you think that having dual controls is safer in the event that the co-pilot needs to fly? I find it hard to imagine that the co-pilot would be ecstatic about not having yaw controls at his disposal in the event of an emergency.

There's no requirement to have two pilots either, any controls for a co-pilot who may not exist would be strictly safer.

[HRutila]

Hmm, interesting. In your opinion(s), do you think that having dual controls is safer in the event that the co-pilot needs to fly? I find it hard to imagine that the co-pilot would be ecstatic about not having yaw controls at his disposal in the event of an emergency.

...any controls for a co-pilot who may not exist would be strictly safer.

If you're saying it's safer to have dual controls regardless, that's questionable. Airplanes and even helicopters have seen a fair share of accidents resulting from a passenger's actions on the dual controls.

[Nelson L.]

Is there a risk-reward chance in having dual controls? Yes. Do most things in life have a risk-reward factor? Yes.

My view on the matter would be that proper passenger briefing would usually solve the "passenger has death grip on yoke" problem. Not sure how it would work if there were children on board, seeing as Keith has a few youtube videos up of him flying with his kids. The simple answer would be to have a way to disable the controls on the co-pilot side (i.e. disconnect them from the control surfaces on the plane - sort of like side-stick priority in Airbuses), but if someone hasn't done that already, there's probably a reason (I'm just not smart enough to figure it out). Either way, I would personally feel more comfortable knowing there's at least a safety net, instead of everything relying on the capabilities of one person to safely fly the plane.

[Keith Smith]

I fly solo 99% of the time, I haven't given it any thought.

[Keith Smith]

actually that's not true. I did wait until my kids could demonstrate the knowledge that they weren't to touch the controls during flight prior to taking them up.

In the many hundreds of hours in that airplane that I've spent so far, there was a pilot in the right seat for maybe 3 hours so far?

the pax have been grateful for the extra legroom.

[gavink42]

When I fly my Cherokee 180 solo, my flight bag is on the right seat with the seat belt running through a handle, so it won't relocate in unexpected turbulence.

When I fly with my non-pilot family, I wish there were no rudder pedals for the right seat... And, no yoke. That would also help the rear passenger (daughter) with a few more inches of legroom.

On the other hand, when driving I constantly wish for dual controls. So I can casually say to my wife: "your car".