My example for the issue with a single stick was a little lame...opening a Ziploc of trailmix, although that's a common one. One that's no so common, but when it happens it REALLY matters, was when I broke my second crankshaft. I was doing a prop test on a loaned prop and I'd climbed out of my airport to 7000' at 120 mph to time the climb and get a rate of climb number, leveled out at 7000', and the normal (before the 5th bearing) slight vibration worsened, rather than reducing upon leveling out at cruise altitude. I immediately realized what had happened, and switched the engine off to minimize damage, knowing that I could glide farther than I'd climbed, and did a U-turn for my airport. It took about 7 minutes to glide back home, and I had enough altitude to circle the airport once and get the approach just perfect. Plus I knew if I needed to restart it, it would fire right up because it was only a "little" broken, and idled fine before I shut it off.
Thanks to a slight wind that I hadn't noticed on takeoff (no AWOS at my airport), I started thinking I was a little short on very-short final, so I opened the throttle a tad and hit the starter and although it turned over freely, it wouldn't start, even with wind blowing through it. Turns out it had cooled down to the same 22F degrees ambient that existed when I fired it up 15 minutes earlier, and without an extra hand to run the primer, it wasn't going to start again! So I needed THREE hands (flaps require more stick input than my thighs could provide). I ended up landing 20 yards short of the runway, taking out some bushes with one of my wheel pants. [I now ensure that the bushes never grow back...I only have to contend with cotton or corn now.] My point is that there are times when the use of BOTH hands is vital, and sometimes you need three! On N891JF I had the good sense to put the primer button directly under the starter button, so one hand can do both jobs, but that center stick is going away as soon as I get a chance, hopefully before the flight to Chino. Although I like to make my own components, I have one of Steve Glover's awesomely well done dual stick setups that I couldn't possibly build for the same cost, given my hourly rate when working, and it's going in the plane when I get a chance. Mark Langford, Harvest, AL ML at N56ML.com www.N56ML.com
