Hands on throttle and stick; describes location of controls on fighter aircraft
hands on throttle and stick. Ergonomic cockpit design technology, originally developed for military combat aircraft, enabling a pilot to fly the aircraft and manage all navigation, weapons and other systems from control column/throttle lever hand grips.
HOTAS, an abbreviation for hands on throttle-and-stick, is a style of aircraft cockpit Human-Machine Interaction "HMI" which allows the pilot to access the cockpit functions and fly the aircraft. This design style is seen on all modern US and European fighter aircraft, and on some Russian aircraft, where there is no direct access to the Flight Control System (FCS).