[Question] Hand on the throttle at ALL TIMES?

kingck said:
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.
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On my Commercial ASEL ride, that was a huge point I was reminded of: hand on the throttle below 1,000 agl. For a checkride, that is a valid point as everything else was going good. I see my examiners point though; in a complex airplane especially, you want to be ready for a situation that would require you to make an adjustment "by feel" or in the event of an engine failure, you might have time to attempt a restart. Turns out I had to go around on final (P/O 180) as a King Air was cleared for take off on an intersecting runway. I was showing how to use what I have going for me by having the prop back. I made the decision, put the prop in with two fingers with the throttle advancing behind with my thumb. The point being, I did it "blind" with a quick visual conformation, I was more worried about watching the traffic to ensure the separation and positive instrument indications.

I am a fan of the 1000 or below rule.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Then don't divert your attention.
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Or keep your hand on the throttle. You should be flying with one hand anyway, so does it make more sense to just keep the other hand on the throttle and not worry about it creeping out, or spend all of your time on climbout waiting for a drop in RPM/climb rate to remind you to push the throttle back in?
 
Mixture levers tend to lock in place, while throttles are meant to move in and out and often work their way out due to vibration. Are you recommending that I push the throttle all the way in on the takeoff roll, then crank the friction knob so tight that the throttle can't move at all? That would make it hard to abort the takeoff or throttle back if necessary (without diverting attention to unscrew the friction knob) and in my experience if you crank friction knobs that tight all the time you're going to wear them out or twist the whole throttle. It seems easier just to keep your other hand there, but that's just me.
 
thevideographer said:
Mixture levers tend to lock in place, while throttles are meant to move in and out and often work their way out due to vibration. Are you recommending that I push the throttle all the way in on the takeoff roll, then crank the friction knob so tight that the throttle can't move at all? That would make it hard to abort the takeoff or throttle back if necessary (without diverting attention to unscrew the friction knob) and in my experience if you crank friction knobs that tight all the time you're going to wear them out or twist the whole throttle. It seems easier just to keep your other hand there, but that's just me.
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How many different types of airplanes have you flown - out of curiosity.
 
thevideographer said:
Or keep your hand on the throttle. You should be flying with one hand anyway, so does it make more sense to just keep the other hand on the throttle and not worry about it creeping out, or spend all of your time on climbout waiting for a drop in RPM/climb rate to remind you to push the throttle back in?
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Why keep my hand on the throttle when it could be better used holding a drink, a sandwich, a book, the other half of the yoke...

Nothing says you have to keep you hand on the throttle at all times. Honestly, some of you would die if you flew with me. Hand comes off at V1 and if the PM does a good job of setting the climb power, I won't touch them until top-of-climb.

Even in my little GA airplane... hand is generally of the throttle well before 500 AGL and stays off unless I need to make a power change.
 
thevideographer said:
Are you recommending that I push the throttle all the way in on the takeoff roll, then crank the friction knob so tight that the throttle can't move at all?
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No, I'm recommending that you keep your hand on the throttle until rotation, then take it off and let the friction knob do its job. If it doesn't do its job, then that should have been caught on the pre-flight and fixed before departure.
 
Is there really a 4 page thread about this? Fwiw, I have my students keep their hand on the throttle until shortly after takeoff and again for the final approach to landing, so they can make timely and smooth power adjustments as needed for the final approach segment. I also have them on the throttle when practicing slow flight, so they can make smooth and timely adjustments as needed.But, like they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat...
 
The reason there is a 4 page thread is because some people seem to be for controlling the throttle with the power of your mind and never physically touching it, and others are arguing for keeping your hand on the throttle during climbout and final approach. I don't think anybody has actually made an argument for keeping it on the throttle at all times yet.
 
thevideographer said:
The reason there is a 4 page thread is because some people seem to be for controlling the throttle with the power of your mind and never physically touching it
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I haven't seen anyone argue that. I've just seen people argue that you should touch the throttle on takeoff, on approach, and when you need to adjust it. Beyond that, having your hand there is about as useful as having your hand on your crotch.
 
In several thousand hours, I have yet to see a need to keep my hand on the throttle after takeoff in a single engine airplane. The case can be made for multi-engine airplanes for hands in the vicinity of the throttle quadrant in the event that feathering the propeller becomes necessary. In a single engine airplane, hands on the throttle mantra for anything except for an approach to landing is overly conservative and plays (mostly) to the fears of the somewhat superstitious pilot bunch that tends to practice what was taught in the past for the sake of doing so.

I've learned that in somewhat similar fashion, certain instructors are teaching students to hold the brakes momentarily during the takeoff roll to ensure everything is "ok" before takeoff and brake release. It is just my professional opinion, but 3 seconds of brake holding and gauge "monitoring" wont do a thing for a safe takeoff and most students likely don't know what anomalies they are looking for anyway. But it feels good to hold the brakes and say you did something.

Flying is as much about comfort as it is common sense. Do whatever feels good to you as long as it isn't hurting anybody else. As for the instructor, I would ask him to provide valid reasoning for this procedure. But since he is the pilot-in-command, if that is his procedure, I would stick with it or find another instructor. No sense wasting your $40 / hour in discussion about something that is relatively insignificant.
 
I advocate hand on throttle <1000' and in the pattern because I've had two instances now where it has saved my butt. I was on final and a seagull was headed right for the prop. As in, this birdstrike was imminent and seemingly unavoidable. I think I was at 400 feet. Now I know some people will disagree with this decision but I reacted and applied full power and pitched the nose up and went around. I still braced thinking i was about to paint the cabin red. This entire action was very quick and, had I not added power, I could have stalled the airplane on final.

The second instance was, again, on final. We were cutoff by another AC turning base to final. The AC got really close and I ended up having to do a climbing turn to avoid it. Had my hand not been on the throttle in both instances I felt like I would have reacted with just the yoke instead of combining yoke and power. Similar to not having your feet on the rudder at all times.

Now I know both of these examples I was on final and every pilot should have their hand on the throttle on final. My point is that you never know when you are going to need the power because of particular hazards that occur at lower altitudes. Also, for students I think the de-coupling of the throttle hand from the flying hand can potentially screw up their fundamentals.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
I haven't seen anyone argue that. I've just seen people argue that you should touch the throttle on takeoff, on approach, and when you need to adjust it. Beyond that, having your hand there is about as useful as having your hand on your crotch.
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I'll be the first. If we are talking about student pilots, I teach hand on there throttle at all times for several reasons. First of all, there won't be much cruising or straight and level with all the stalls and steep turns they will be doing. Also, they barely know where anything is or what to do with it so the last thing they need is to be trying to figure out where the throttle is while we are doing slow flight or stalls. It helps when flying traffic patterns as well. They don't have to look inside to search for the throttle while trying to figure out if they are abeam the touchdown point. Long story short, it eliminates an unnecessary distraction during primary training
 
Makes you wonder how they tune radios, raise gear and flaps, set trim, or do anything else. Once you rotate there is no need to have your hand there.
boss said:
In several thousand hours, I have yet to see a need to keep my hand on the throttle after takeoff in a single engine airplane. The case can be made for multi-engine airplanes for hands in the vicinity of the throttle quadrant in the event that feathering the propeller becomes necessary. In a single engine airplane, hands on the throttle mantra for anything except for an approach to landing is overly conservative and plays (mostly) to the fears of the somewhat superstitious pilot bunch that tends to practice what was taught in the past for the sake of doing so.
.
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Huh? Maintain directional control and pitch for blue line come before anything else, so the urgency to feather the prop will likely cause you more problems than good.
 
tlove482 said:
I'll be the first. If we are talking about student pilots, I teach hand on there throttle at all times for several reasons. First of all, there won't be much cruising or straight and level with all the stalls and steep turns they will be doing. Also, they barely know where anything is or what to do with it so the last thing they need is to be trying to figure out where the throttle is while we are doing slow flight or stalls. It helps when flying traffic patterns as well. They don't have to look inside to search for the throttle while trying to figure out if they are abeam the touchdown point. Long story short, it eliminates an unnecessary distraction during primary training
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Please stop training pilots. I beg of you!
 
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.
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Like they say, "You're only as good as your last instructor." Oh, rats, that means right now I really suck.:biggrin:
 
tlove482 said:
Care to elaborate on why you disagree?
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Because once you rotate, there is absolutely no need to keep a hand on the throttle. It's what, maybe a one second difference in reaction time between having a hand on vs having your hand somewhere else. What happens if the throttle creeps out while tuning a radio, or grabbing a chart? The reaction would be the same as having your hand in your lap.

All the reasons you gave for why you teach it are just a crutch for yourself and don't help a student at all.

So now you've taught this silly procedure to your student, who if they become a CFI, will teach it to their student, and on and on. This is why we have these ridiculous wives tales like oversquare, flying on step, fear of LOP, etc... that seem perpetuate on forever.
 
I don;t know about ATN but I disagree with hand on the throttle "at all times."

There's a valid point to hand on the throttle on takeoff until a "safe"altitude, during traffic pattern operations, and during maneuvers (slow flight, stalls, etc) where throttle use is going to take place. That valid point is as applicable to experienced pilots as it is to students (and is subject to exceptions like raising the gear).

The why? of hand on the throttle during those critical times can be explained in terms of good flight habits for the long term. Unless your view is that hand on the throttle at all times is an important safety consideration that applies as much to you as it does to your students, I think you're creating an unnecessary disconnect between what he student is learning and what he or she will do as a pilot. By giving it an importance that isn't really there you end up minimizing more worthy operating procedures.

If you were a driving instructor, would you insist your students drive all the time with 2 feet? One on the brake at all times in case he forgot where it was?
 
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