forestroke, I understand what you say, but back in the early days of aviation, the Captain, who sits on the left, did ALL the flying, controlling the aircraft through the yoke with his left hand, and using his right for the throttles. In some countries, the less enlightened ones like third world countries and that strangely includes Japan, it`s still the same with Japanese Captains.

In Airbus aircraft, the control stick is still on the left for the Capt and right for the FO. It is fly by wire technology, and the A320 was almost built without throttles; they were only installed to keep the pilots happy. Probably something less offensive to play with.

The throttles could easily have been put on the left at no weight penalty for an extra set, and the control stick on the right armrest, and vv for the FO.

It`s something that has often intrigued me, and the only plausible conclusion I can draw is that the earliest designers of multi crew aircraft adopted the LHS steering wheel following car manufacturers.

Sorry to sidetrack the thread.