How many of you teach your students to always keep their hand on the throttle?

I have had instructors give me simulated engine failures when not leaving my hand on the throttle during climb out during my first few training flights. Generally, I like to make sure I have all the power available on climb out.
 
I teach 1000'' and below hand on the throttle unless it is being used for something else that is critical (gear, flaps, trim, etc). As with Mark I have seen throttles vibrate out during climb. In addition I have had passengers put their hand on the throttle in tandem airplanes.
 
Doug Taylor said:
I was a bastard when I was a CFI.

If I caught the student with the friction lock not set and his hand off the throttle for too long, it presented itself as a potential opportunity for some engine failure practice! :)
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bastard.
 
Blackhawk said:
I teach 1000'' and below hand on the throttle unless it is being used for something else that is critical (gear, flaps, trim, etc). As with Mark I have seen throttles vibrate out during climb. In addition I have had passengers put their hand on the throttle in tandem airplanes.
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What do you think of collective friction locks? Same issue?
 
Inverted25 said:
Only had to cut one loose in all the tows I have done. Generally the rule is if I hit a control stop because a glider is out if position then they are getting cut loose. The exception to that rule is when they are boxing the wake. Then I give them a two count after hitting the stop before they eat the rope.
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I've only cut one loose, in 600 odd tows. Rough engine at 500 AGL, wasn't going to wait to see what happened, there isn't time to think about it then.

The only other time I have needed to pull the handle, the CG hook let go as I was reaching for it (which means the glider was 45 degrees above me). Thankfully that was at altitude, do that to me on the takeoff roll and I will beat the crap out of you if I survive.
 
I teach thorough TPA you they can then set the friction lock. If they take their had off before that I pull the power out.
 
Most definitely for T/O and L. If a student is using both hands flying maneuvers asking them to place a hand on the throttle can correct it, in my experience.
 
Eh, I'm not a big stickler about it. Certainly while climbing that is where your hand should be if you are not doing something else, such as trimming, and it is desirable during most maneuvers, but I find that comes pretty naturally.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
I've only cut one loose, in 600 odd tows. Rough engine at 500 AGL, wasn't going to wait to see what happened, there isn't time to think about it then.

The only other time I have needed to pull the handle, the CG hook let go as I was reaching for it (which means the glider was 45 degrees above me). Thankfully that was at altitude, do that to me on the takeoff roll and I will beat the crap out of you if I survive.
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I wish we had cg hooks. The guy I cut loose had me almost 90 degrees nose down before the shock wore off and I found the release handle
 
Pachong said:
Alrighty...so taxi, takeoff, landing, maneuvers? Does that seem like a good idea to everyone?
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Pretty much what I do. I really enforce takeoff, climb, and landing. It would be bad to need the power and have a lag because your hand was resting on your knee.
 
Houston said:
I know this isn't where the question was aimed, but one related thing that gets to me is where pilots of light GA training airplanes put their hands during engine start. One hand should be on the starter. One hand should be in the area of the power quadrant (throttle and / or mixture). One hand should be holding the yoke. Since it takes three hands and most pilots only have two, something needs to give. In most cases that would be the third hand on the yoke. But, what I'll see is one hand on the starter and the other hand on their knee.
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Negative Transfer? You only need one hand on the ignition key when starting a car- nothing for the other hand to do.

The way I learned to start the Citabria was to hold the stick back with my right elbow, right hand controls the throttle, left hand pushes the starter button and then shoves in the mixture when the engine starts

As far as students go- regardless of the airplane- hand on throttle until reaching a "safe altitude" (unless needed to raise the gear or flaps, or in certain airplanes, reduce RPM for the climb out).
 
Before takeoff, one of the checks in any airplane should be to set the throttle friction lock so you can still move the throttle but so it won't rattle back.

Looking back, here's what I do.

Turbine Twins:
V1, hand comes off the throttle

Turbine Singles:
Hand comes off the throttle at rotation and either rests on the EPL or does other stuff until I need to adjust the power.

Light Piston Twins:
Hand comes off the throttle when I could no longer abort the takeoff and land straight ahead - usually this happens when the hand goes to the gear lever.

High Performance Piston Singles:
Hand comes off the throttle at rotation, doesn't go back until power adjustments are needed

Piston singles generally:
Hand off with friction lock set at rotation - I figure if I lose it, no amount of pushing on the throttle is going to make it actually fire back up again.
 
Mike H said:
Negative Transfer? You only need one hand on the ignition key when starting a car- nothing for the other hand to do.

The way I learned to start the Citabria was to hold the stick back with my right elbow, right hand controls the throttle, left hand pushes the starter button and then shoves in the mixture when the engine starts.
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One of the benefits of a stick over a yoke. A little positional adjustment can take care of the need for that third hand. For whatever reason, I got in the habit of holding the stick between my legs in a kind of knock-kneed pose with my fee on the toe brakes or heel brakes.
 
ppragman said:
Piston singles generally:
Hand off with friction lock set at rotation - I figure if I lose it, no amount of pushing on the throttle is going to make it actually fire back up again.
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On the other hand, you might want to get the power off. If it starts spitting and sputtering while there is still enough runway and / or clear area ahead to set down, the sooner the power comes off, the better. Then there is the story I've heard, but never met anyone who experienced, of the pilot who makes the great forced landing only to have the engine come back to life at full throttle as the airplane hits the ground.
 
I teach them to keep a hand on the throttle until ~1000ft on the climb because you can't afford to be loosing power there. When landing, I expect to see a hand on the throttle by 500ft simply because this is where you need to be ready to make a power change at a moment's notice.

During maneuvers, I really don't care unless it's a Vmc demo or stall.
 
MidlifeFlyer said:
I've actually had throttles slip back on their own.

It's probably not a huge issue in the real world but since the primary goal is to keep your attention somewhere else and your right hand isn't needed for something else (at least we hope not!) ...
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I've had a mixture control walk back in cruise to "too lean to run" on me (led to a "WHOA" and the rapid advancement of both red knobs). You'd better believe we locked them individually after that.

Houston said:
I know this isn't where the question was aimed, but one related thing that gets to me is where pilots of light GA training airplanes put their hands during engine start. One hand should be on the starter. One hand should be in the area of the power quadrant (throttle and / or mixture). One hand should be holding the yoke. Since it takes three hands and most pilots only have two, something needs to give. In most cases that would be the third hand on the yoke. But, what I'll see is one hand on the starter and the other hand on their knee.
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Starting is hard apparently.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. Looks like everyone is more lenient than my first instructor so I'll take that into consideration with my students.
 
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