High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! HOTAS, an abbreviation for Hands On Throttle-And-Stick, is the name given to the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle stick and flight control stick in an aircraft`s cockpit, allowing the pilot to access vital cockpit functions and fly the aircraft without having to remove his hands from the throttle and flight controls. Application of the concept was pioneered by the English Electric Lightning and is widely used on all modern fighter aircraft such as the F-16 Fighting Falcon.