[Question] Hand on the throttle at ALL TIMES?

kingck

kingck

Member
so i have a question retaining to flight training ive gone through a few CFI's now and ive noticed one thing that grinds the hell out of my gears some of the CFI's tell me i have to keep one hand on the throttle the ENTIRE flights, now sure i get the one hand on the throttle rule for landings/takeoffs but in level cruise?! anyone else here have a CFI do something similar or if any of you are CFI care to shine some light on this situation.
 
I had three instructors over the years starting way back in 1970 who taught the same thing: Hand always on throttle (Cherokee 140, C-150 and C-172). Never saw anyone with whom I flew as passenger do that, though.
 
The theory during low level flight is that, in the event of a power problem or need for adjustment, we would not have the time to notice it and get our hand up there in time. Whether or not you accept this theory, I don't see how it applies when one is higher.
 
Could the aircraft have a problem with the friction lock on the throttle causing it to move with the aircraft vibrations?

I know, I'm reaching.
 
Monk said:
That is another concern at low level, that goes away at altitude.
Click to expand...
just a few weeks ago (8 days ago to be exact) I was in the climb in a PA-23-250 (aztec) and I had the friction lock so loose, the props came back to 2000rpm before I could even realize it. all by themselves!

Thankfully my hand was on the throttles so I just looked down and I'm like WTF? And pushed them forward and tightened the lock


It was my first flight in this particular plane and I was having trouble getting below 1200rpm on the ground so I loosened the friction lock, for those wondering
 
Hand on the throttle to about 1000', after that no worries. If an engine is going to quit its going to quit no matter where your hand is.
 
Really, folks, this "hand on the throttle until 1,000 ft" thing is almost as ridiculous as keeping your hand there the entire flight. There is nothing so disastrous in an airplane that requires you to respond to it in microseconds. If you're at 500 ft and your engine quits, having your hand on the throttle isn't going to change anything. You're just doing what your instructor told you, because that's what his instructor told him, because that's what his instructor told him, and so on, and so on.

Hand on the throttle until rotation makes some sense, because vibration on the ground can work a throttle out of its set position. But once you're in the air, if your throttle is so loose that it's moving, then you need to fix your throttle instead of acting like a human friction lock.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
Really, folks, this "hand on the throttle until 1,000 ft" thing is almost as ridiculous as keeping your hand there the entire flight. There is nothing so disastrous in an airplane that requires you to respond to it in microseconds. If you're at 500 ft and your engine quits, having your hand on the throttle isn't going to change anything. You're just doing what your instructor told you, because that's what his instructor told him, because that's what his instructor told him, and so on, and so on.

Hand on the throttle until rotation makes some sense, because vibration on the ground can work a throttle out of its set position. But once you're in the air, if your throttle is so loose that it's moving, then you need to fix your throttle instead of acting like a human friction lock.
Click to expand...

Kinda like taking your hand off the throttle at V1. After that, no need to really even touch it.
 
above 500' AGL, I will take my hands off the controls, sit on them for a good 10-15 mins, and then I will hold the throttles with my right hand, and the stick with my left. It's like I'm not even flying because I can't feel my hands. That and reversing them is a lot like writing with the wrong hand. Lots of fun
 
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