Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

       Do I need the co-pilot Stick Grip?

If you can answer YES to *** ANY *** of the following, then YES, you will need a co-pilot Stick Grip:

• You will soon want to get just as proficient flying your own plane from the co-pilot seat as you are in the pilots seat like everyone else does, so you'll certainly need matching Stick Grips;
• You will be checking out others in your plane and will want to give them command with a Stick Grip that has the same functions as the pilots;
• You will be checking out others to help them get some stick time before they fly their plane, so you will want to give them command with a matching Stick Grip that has the same functions as the pilots;
• You'll be on a cross country and want your buddy to spell you, so you give them command while you eat your sandwich or take a picture or take a nap;
• If there is a problem with the pilots Stick Grip, you just jump over to the co-pilot seat, or lean over and use the switches on the co-pilots Stick Grip;
• You'll have a spare Stick Grip and parts for the pilots Stick Grip if you get in a pinch;

       So YES, ALL 2+ seat planes should have matching Stick Grips ! Also, the cockpit looks MUCH better to have a matching set of Stick Grips, and is a marketing tool if you ever sell your plane !!!

       And again, like it says at the beginning of the Stick Grip page -- You've spent years and thou$and$ on your dream machine! Do you imagine flying your pride and joy with a Military Style Control Stick Grip (from either seat), or with other attempts at making a stick grip, such as using just a soft bike grip, ski pole handle or dowel rod that you stuck a couple of cheap switches in, which would be labor intensive to make and wire at best, that turn ON (make contact) if you bump them 1/200th of an inch (our Stick Grip switches WILL NOT do this), and that the only way to mount it is to glue it on (then always wondering not if, but when, it will come off)?!?

        How do I switch command / control of the Stick Grips between the pilot and the co-pilot?

       Some builders (who are also electronic whizzes) have designed a little Black Box like the military and airlines have, that controls the functions and priorities of each Stick Grip. But / Or, for us Electronically Challenged (like me), a real simple way is to wire the #1 4-Way Switch and the #2 Trigger switch in parallel with each other in each Stick Grip, and gang all the grounds / commons of switches #3, #4, #5 and #6 together to a Lever Lock Toggle Switch mounted horizontally in the panel for the side-by-side planes, or in the left aft console across from the pilot's left hip for the tandem builders, to isolate the pilot Stick Grip switches from the co-pilot's switches. If someone is messing with the 4-Way and / or Trigger switch(es) who shouldn't be, the side-by-side builders can just reach over and break their passengers arm. BUT, the tandem builders can't do this, so they will either wire all the grounds / commons of the 6 switches in the rear seat Stick Grip to the Lever Lock Toggle Switch, disarming all switches in the rear seat at once -- or better yet, they will wire the 4-Way and Trigger Switch to a second Lever Lock Toggle Switch in the console to disarm those 2 switches separately from switches #3, #4, #5 and #6 (an RV-8 builder told me at Oshkosh 2000 that he calls the 2nd Lever Lock Toggle Switch that disables / disarms his 4-way and Trigger Switches in his copilots Stick Grip his 'Grandson Switch'.) [At Sun 'N Fun 2004, a husband and wife RV-8 flying team said they put both Lever Lock Toggle Switches by the pilots hip. His wife said that way 'when he has his heart attack in the front seat, she can reach the 2 Lever Lock Toggle Switches by the pilot's (husband's) left hip from the back seat, and take back Stick Grip command, and land the plane.' Good idea!].

        NTSB report!

       At Oshkosh 2003, RV builders told us about an RV-8 builder who was flying his plane when his rubber grip came un-glued, slid up his stick tube vertically, and jammed into the bottom of the instrument panel -- he didn't make it :-( .

       Remember, our Stick Grips are ***NOT*** glued on, and *clamp* over the top of your tube with a screw through your stick tube. See Installation Drawing.