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6 Answers

Student flying in left seat with no brakes in right seat

Asked by: 4441 views General Aviation, Student Pilot

A few questions related to flying in left seat as a student 1. Can I take dual instruction in left seat of a mooney that has no brakes in right seat before solo endorsement? 2. Same as above, but after solo endorsement. 3. Can my friend (private pilot, not CFI) fly as PIC in right seat and myself in left seat before I have solo endorsement? 4. Same as above, but after solo endorsement.   Obviously if the first two are no, then the last two will also be no....

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6 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Jul 09, 2015

    There is a FAA General Counsel Opinion in 2000 that indicates that 91.109(a) dual controls does not include brakes. Although I would not fly with a student in the left seat who had not solo’d, some other instructor might. The solo endorsement doesn’t make any difference from a legal point of view. I think your pilot friend can fly in the right seat, but IMHO would be foolish to do so. Neither you nor the pilot could log any of the time where you were manipulating the controls. Although it may be legal, if an accident happened where the operation of the brakes were in any way relevant, I think the pilot would have a difficult time explaining why he wasn’t careless and negligent.

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  2. Matthew Waugh on Jul 09, 2015

    And – check your insurance. Just because the FAA says you can do it doesn’t mean the insurance company will pay when it goes wrong.

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  3. Russ Roslewski on Jul 09, 2015

    I have provided a couple of hundred hours of instruction to new students in airplanes with no toe brakes on the right side (older Cherokees and Comanches). However, this does not mean brakes are unavailable to me – in both models there is a handbrake that I am able to use if necessary.

    Especially on the first few flights, you have to be very aware of what the student is doing with the brakes. It takes some extra vigilance, although new students always take extra vigilance anyway. My left hand is definitely ready to grab that handbrake at any time during taxi or especially on landing!

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  4. Greg Taylor on Jul 10, 2015

    Thanks Guys,

    I don’t think this mooney has any brake accessible from the right side. I’m not positive about that though.

    I’ve got 11 hours of dual in 3 different planes, and I’ve done 100% of all taxiing and braking since the first lesson, and have never needed assistance from the instructor, so I’m confident that I can handle the brakes myself, but my concern is being legal. I don’t want to put my friend or instructor in any legal or financial risk if something should go wrong.

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  5. Mark Kolber on Jul 13, 2015

    Russ, I have given instruction in aircraft with no toe brakes also. But not unless there is some brake accessible, such as the handbrake on the Cherokees (or the Comanche I used to fly which had no toe brakes on either side).

    But, if I recall correctly, the Mooneys (or at least some of them) do not have a hand brake. Instead, the parking brake hand control holds the brakes-on position once the toe brakes are depressed. It doesn’t work independently of the toe brakes.

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  6. Best Answer


    Mark Kolber on Jul 13, 2015

    but my concern is being legal. I don’t want to put my friend or instructor in any legal or financial risk if something should go wrong.

    Greg, as others said, it’s legal in the sense that the FAR doesnt require the CFI to have brakes available. But that doesn’t negate the legal or financial risk if something should go wrong. If something does go wrong, liability depends on much more than whether something was technically legal. Whether that risk is acceptable to your friend (or a CFI) is mostly up to them. Your friend should be considering how to answer the question (if something goes wrong), “So what made you think it was ok to be responsible for a flight with a student pilot without having the ability to stop the airplane?”

    There may be a good answer to that question, but the question needs to be considered.

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