Flying and being Left Handed

[Guest F-15-Eagle]

Will being a left handed person affect my chances? If so, should I tell the Air Force that I'm mostly left handed (I'm actually moderately ambidexterous)? Also, will it be a problem in flight school? Thanks.

[Guest SuperStallionIP]

To answer your question not as an MD but as a flyer, I would not think you will have issues. I am right handed but handle numerous tasks with my left. I would say to you, no factor so don't worry about it.

[Guest F-15-Eagle]

Thanks for the good news. Also, one more question, does it affect what kind of plane I can fly, because I know that fighters, especially the F-16 are configured for right handed people. Of course, this probably won't matter if I get a heavy (which I wouldn't mind at all).

[brabus]

It won't matter at all. Do you use your right hand for the mouse on your computer? If you can do that, you can handle a stick in your right hand (sts).

[Guest F-15-Eagle]

Yeah I guess you guys are right. I recently started doing flight sims with my right hand, seems to be going all right. I don't really like flight sims though ever since I actually tried flying for real. Thanks for the info, guys.

[Guest Sammy]

Originally posted by F-15-Eagle:

Thanks for the good news. Also, one more question, does it affect what kind of plane I can fly, because I know that fighters, especially the F-16 are configured for right handed people. Of course, this probably won't matter if I get a heavy (which I wouldn't mind at all).

Yes, you will only be able to fly the "L"-variants of any airframe, a very tough assignment to get! Good luck!

[Guest FCI]

It's one of those situations where I fly a Cessna with my left hand and control the throttle with my right but in a military trainer I fly with my right and control the throttle with my left.

You adapt to the airplane with no regard to which hand is your dominant one.

[Bergman]

Originally posted by FCI:

You adapt to the airplane with no regard to which hand is your dominant one.

Kind of like flying the TOne in UPT...left seat on the way out to lunch, right seat on the way back. The only thing that changes is which side of the center line you land on.

[NOLAflyer]

This may be a trivial question, but I've flown Cessna's before and had no problem, especially since I sat in the left seat. However I'm left handed and have lots of anxiety about how I'll perform using a right handed stick (and thats through all phases, IFS, UPT etc.). Is there any insight out there that may help alleviate the stress of this, especially if there are any lefties who have been through or are curently going through UPT?

Thanks for any help on this!

[Gravedigger]

This may be a trivial question, but I've flown Cessna's before and had no problem, especially since I sat in the left seat. However I'm left handed and have lots of anxiety about how I'll perform using a right handed stick (and thats through all phases, IFS, UPT etc.). Is there any insight out there that may help alleviate the stress of this, especially if there are any lefties who have been through or are curently going through UPT?

Thanks for any help on this!

I haven't been to UPT, but I can give you a little bit of insight. For starters, I am a lefty, and wrote a research paper on left-handedness, and the challenges that we face. Actually, flying has been proven to be a right-brained activity, which is the side of the brain that lefties are most dominate with.

Aside from that, you will find that you become almost ambidextrous with flying activities. If you are worried about it, go out and start flying from the right seat. It might take you a couple of laps in the pattern to get the sight picture and muscle memory, but after a few landings you will hardly notice the difference. You can also use a flight simulator, or just any joystick to start getting comfortable flying with your right hand.

If you don't go fighters, you are going to be flying from both seats anyways. It's no big deal.

[Guest brknmach]

Like stated above, just buy a joy stick and fly on flight simulator. I am a lefty and everything i do is with my left hand, i bat left handed, write left handed, used to play soccer with my left foot. When i use a right handed joystick i dont have a problem at all, I know this is a stupid comparison but do you use a mouse with your right hand?? If you do then using a joy stick with your right hand should not be a problem. See ya!

[D-ron]

This may be a trivial question, but I've flown Cessna's before and had no problem, especially since I sat in the left seat. However I'm left handed and have lots of anxiety about how I'll perform using a right handed stick (and thats through all phases, IFS, UPT etc.). Is there any insight out there that may help alleviate the stress of this, especially if there are any lefties who have been through or are curently going through UPT?

Thanks for any help on this!

Being left handed won't impede your performance. Being extremely ucoordinated might, but us left handed guys are obviously superior, so you don't have to worry about that. I've flown Cessnas from both left and right seats and never experienced any problems at all. It was natural enough that I didn't even think about it. I haven't started UPT, so perhaps take this advice with a grain of salt, but I would say don't worry about being left handed.

[osulax05]

If you end up flying fighters, you might be relieved that you are left handed - you won't have to take your hand off the stick (sts) to write things down.

[Hacker]

If you end up flying fighters, you might be relieved that you are left handed - you won't have to take your hand off the stick (sts) to write things down.

That's the best part.

I'm a lefty and I find no problems flying with my right hand, nor is it an issue to switch between flying a fighter and a GA aircraft with the hands reversed for the control and throttles.