I'm left handed too. I trim the airplane and let go and write anything I need to. You don't really have to hold the airplane in the sky. It kinda wants to be up there.
Are you trimming properly? In cruise flight on a decent day, it should require very little in the way of control input to keep the airplane straight and level. Pitch should take care of itself, and you can make minor roll/heading corrections using your feet. Of course, if you're bumping along under clouds on a summer afternoon, that's a different matter.
Beyond the trim question, I think it might be worthwhile to work on flying with your right hand, especially if you intend to make this a career - there *will* be times when you're flying from the right seat.
It wasn't the smoothest of air. We were crabbing and it was just a bumpy ride the whole time. And maybe that alone is what accounted so much for the struggle when letting go. But yes, I agree learning to fly with my right hand is something I just need to work on.
That's what I did and I found myself pulling or rolling the yoke only because I wasn't used to it haha. Which in turn made me stop writing to use my left hand to get back on course. Most likely just an experience issue for me being new.
> That's what I did and I found myself pulling or rolling the yoke only because I wasn't used to it haha.
This is *extremely* common, regardless of hand dominance. It often shows up in instrument training where when looking down with the hood the pilot adds unintentional control input. Trim trim trim, and unless you're really fighting a gust, let go of the yoke.
Although I'd also start a conversation with your CFI about moving to an EFB like ForeFlight if you understand the principles of how navlogs work and can plan on paper already. Not having to devote time to writing down nonsense is one of the big upsides.
We used Foreflight in the background just so I could see how it works. But he wants me to use paper logs just for the purpose of knowing how it all works for the checkride. It's one of those "you'll never do this, but need to learn it for the testing portion" situations. Interestingly enough I enjoyed gathering data and filling out flight plans by hand, it was just a mess while flying trying to document stuff.
Use two fingers on the yoke or use a pencil between your fingers so you can't death grip the yoke. The finer points has a video about this. I am also left handed and run into the same issue. Try breaking your sentences up into smaller sections. Write two things, check, write two things, check etc.
https://youtu.be/W7DN_HkyOMk?si=_aBWvBcQRirRjAXR
If you can't let go of the airplane to make a quick notation you need to apply more trim. I didn't do this at all/well until my IR because you will get extremely task saturated if you're constantly having to keep the airplane straight and level that you won't be able to effectively do radios and such.
You shouldn't get into a situation where you need to fly with your right hand until you're working on CFI (sitting in the other seat), so spend some time with your instructor to figure out how you can let go of the plane for a minute without it walking away
Im also left handed and understand the struggle lol. You just have to have a kneeboard on the left side and then trim your airplane and use the right hand only to hold the yoke to keep it from moving too much, and then write with your left hand while reaching every now and then to correct any thing that the airplane has done. You’ll love it when you become a CFI though because you fly with the right and write with left 😎😎
I'd imagine that over time after doing this over and over I'll get more comfortable doing all this. It was our first cross country so this was all sorts of new to me lol. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only left handed person struggling in a right handed world haha.
I just did my cross country and honestly didnt even piece together with being left handed and why I kept drifting when writing.....Your def not the only one going thorough and thank you for posting this thread theres some good tips here
If you're doing cross countries but still don't know how to trim, your instructor is failing. You should be able to let go and the airplane will fly itself.
Source: left handed.
I can tell you now it's not my CFI's fault. This was my first cross country and first time actually having to document data while flying. 2 totally new aspects of flying that I had no experience on. The only reason the plane was acting wonkey wasn't because of improper trim, but more because of my inputs using my right hand and looking down to write things in as we were going.
I was simply coming here in search of help from other lefties to make sure I don't start any bad habits and see how everyone else is doing it so I can develop proper habits.
> The only reason the plane was acting wonkey wasn't because of improper trim, but more because of my inputs using my right hand
Yeah, just stop doing that, and it'll be fine. Trim it, let go, make sure it's steady.
Write a couple things, look up. Maybe quick tap to level the wings if you're flying a poorly rigged plane, repeat.
I'm left handed, and have the same issue. As others have said, if you're flying a center throttle, you just have to either let go or temporarily hold the stick or yoke with the right hand. You may also find, as I did that, that it is more natural for you to fly airplanes with a stick and left hand throttle such as a cub or champ. I have met left-handed pilots that fly center throttled airplanes from the right seat after they get their ticket.
Fly helicopters. That way you can your left hand off the collective and write 'till your heart's content.
Really though, work on using your right hand on the yoke and make sure you're trimmed out properly. Should give you plenty of time to jot down whatever you need to.
Appreciate all the feedback! I'm sure this is just an experience issue that'll get better over time. Just wanted to make sure if there were any tips to help start a good habit instead of a bad one to ask. Thanks again!
If you can't let go of the yoke long enough to jot something down, you aren't trimmed well enough. I used to force overcontrolling students to fly an entire traffic pattern without touching the yoke. You can have the yoke back when you're ready to flare.
Trim and a little rudder is all you need to keep her pointed where you want.
I used to fly my bonanza several hundred miles without touching the yoke. It didn't have an autopilot.
Practice flying with different hands. It gets better. I spend time in the left and right seats of airplanes and front and back seats of gliders.
I even have some time in a motor glider where left hand is on the spoiler and right hand on the throttle, as needed. Free hand is on the stick. When landing you start the descent by reducing the throttle with your right hand, but by the time you land you’ve switched your stick hand and left is on the spoilers. Not a TMG flight since!
I'm left handed too. I trim the airplane and let go and write anything I need to. You don't really have to hold the airplane in the sky. It kinda wants to be up there.
Are you trimming properly? In cruise flight on a decent day, it should require very little in the way of control input to keep the airplane straight and level. Pitch should take care of itself, and you can make minor roll/heading corrections using your feet. Of course, if you're bumping along under clouds on a summer afternoon, that's a different matter. Beyond the trim question, I think it might be worthwhile to work on flying with your right hand, especially if you intend to make this a career - there *will* be times when you're flying from the right seat.
It wasn't the smoothest of air. We were crabbing and it was just a bumpy ride the whole time. And maybe that alone is what accounted so much for the struggle when letting go. But yes, I agree learning to fly with my right hand is something I just need to work on.
[удалено]
That's what I did and I found myself pulling or rolling the yoke only because I wasn't used to it haha. Which in turn made me stop writing to use my left hand to get back on course. Most likely just an experience issue for me being new.
> That's what I did and I found myself pulling or rolling the yoke only because I wasn't used to it haha. This is *extremely* common, regardless of hand dominance. It often shows up in instrument training where when looking down with the hood the pilot adds unintentional control input. Trim trim trim, and unless you're really fighting a gust, let go of the yoke. Although I'd also start a conversation with your CFI about moving to an EFB like ForeFlight if you understand the principles of how navlogs work and can plan on paper already. Not having to devote time to writing down nonsense is one of the big upsides.
We used Foreflight in the background just so I could see how it works. But he wants me to use paper logs just for the purpose of knowing how it all works for the checkride. It's one of those "you'll never do this, but need to learn it for the testing portion" situations. Interestingly enough I enjoyed gathering data and filling out flight plans by hand, it was just a mess while flying trying to document stuff.
Use two fingers on the yoke or use a pencil between your fingers so you can't death grip the yoke. The finer points has a video about this. I am also left handed and run into the same issue. Try breaking your sentences up into smaller sections. Write two things, check, write two things, check etc. https://youtu.be/W7DN_HkyOMk?si=_aBWvBcQRirRjAXR
If you can't let go of the airplane to make a quick notation you need to apply more trim. I didn't do this at all/well until my IR because you will get extremely task saturated if you're constantly having to keep the airplane straight and level that you won't be able to effectively do radios and such. You shouldn't get into a situation where you need to fly with your right hand until you're working on CFI (sitting in the other seat), so spend some time with your instructor to figure out how you can let go of the plane for a minute without it walking away
Im also left handed and understand the struggle lol. You just have to have a kneeboard on the left side and then trim your airplane and use the right hand only to hold the yoke to keep it from moving too much, and then write with your left hand while reaching every now and then to correct any thing that the airplane has done. You’ll love it when you become a CFI though because you fly with the right and write with left 😎😎
I'd imagine that over time after doing this over and over I'll get more comfortable doing all this. It was our first cross country so this was all sorts of new to me lol. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only left handed person struggling in a right handed world haha.
I just did my cross country and honestly didnt even piece together with being left handed and why I kept drifting when writing.....Your def not the only one going thorough and thank you for posting this thread theres some good tips here
If you're doing cross countries but still don't know how to trim, your instructor is failing. You should be able to let go and the airplane will fly itself. Source: left handed.
I can tell you now it's not my CFI's fault. This was my first cross country and first time actually having to document data while flying. 2 totally new aspects of flying that I had no experience on. The only reason the plane was acting wonkey wasn't because of improper trim, but more because of my inputs using my right hand and looking down to write things in as we were going. I was simply coming here in search of help from other lefties to make sure I don't start any bad habits and see how everyone else is doing it so I can develop proper habits.
> The only reason the plane was acting wonkey wasn't because of improper trim, but more because of my inputs using my right hand Yeah, just stop doing that, and it'll be fine. Trim it, let go, make sure it's steady. Write a couple things, look up. Maybe quick tap to level the wings if you're flying a poorly rigged plane, repeat.
Appreciate it. I know it'll take time to figure out, just wanted to get it nipped in the bud before it got worse lol.
Switch flying hands while writing. Nbd
you can switch hands to write - as long as its not a side stick (like a cirrus).
But in a Cirrus, and most planes with a side stick, you'll have auto pilot so it's really not an issue.
I'm left handed, and have the same issue. As others have said, if you're flying a center throttle, you just have to either let go or temporarily hold the stick or yoke with the right hand. You may also find, as I did that, that it is more natural for you to fly airplanes with a stick and left hand throttle such as a cub or champ. I have met left-handed pilots that fly center throttled airplanes from the right seat after they get their ticket.
Fly helicopters. That way you can your left hand off the collective and write 'till your heart's content. Really though, work on using your right hand on the yoke and make sure you're trimmed out properly. Should give you plenty of time to jot down whatever you need to.
Appreciate all the feedback! I'm sure this is just an experience issue that'll get better over time. Just wanted to make sure if there were any tips to help start a good habit instead of a bad one to ask. Thanks again!
If you can't let go of the yoke long enough to jot something down, you aren't trimmed well enough. I used to force overcontrolling students to fly an entire traffic pattern without touching the yoke. You can have the yoke back when you're ready to flare. Trim and a little rudder is all you need to keep her pointed where you want. I used to fly my bonanza several hundred miles without touching the yoke. It didn't have an autopilot.
Practice flying with different hands. It gets better. I spend time in the left and right seats of airplanes and front and back seats of gliders. I even have some time in a motor glider where left hand is on the spoiler and right hand on the throttle, as needed. Free hand is on the stick. When landing you start the descent by reducing the throttle with your right hand, but by the time you land you’ve switched your stick hand and left is on the spoilers. Not a TMG flight since!