british airways cockpit visit

[ultimatepro63]

hi i once remeber in 1997 when i was seven i went on a cockpit visit on a 747-200 and i remember the captain flight engineer
and co pilot grinning at me

i remember the captain handing me something as a souvenir
but cant remember what it was

was there something they used to give for cockpit visits

any ideas what it was

(the flight was to seattle)

[apaddyinuk]

Um...the pilot and copilot grinning at you??? Oh dear!!!

But back to the thread, I do remember that the crew used to give out stickers that you would pop on your shirt saying that you visited the flight deck and with a picture of a smiley BA plane!!!

[Dash-7 lover]

His cheese board??

[BOAC]

Sorry - the Captain would NEVER give away his cheesboard:D

There were always those postcards of BA a/c too.

[hafez]

Yeah i got a sticker when in 1998 when i was 8 coming back from cairo on a 747. Described prefectly by apaddyinuk :hmm: Was very cool, remember i got to sit in the FO's seat while he used the toilet and got to change the heading with the knob and made the plane tilt ever so slightly :cool: was delighted with myself ... ah great memories :ok:

[derekl]

I got one of those stickers when I was 58 -- my mate, El Capitano, thought that was ever such a good joke.

I kept the sticker :O I don't suppose they make 'em anymore :(

[AlexB]

Hmmm around 10 years ago they gave out 'travel logs', which you gave to the captain to sign and date, collect enough and you got a prize iirc.

[markflyer6580]

I also moved the heading knob on the autopilot,probably the only 747 time I will get!

[apaddyinuk]

AlexB....actually you can still buy logbooks onboard for a £1 and the crew will happily pass it up to the flight deck to be signed...unfortunately you wont be able to accompany it up there unless the plane is parked at a stand!!! :sad:

[AlexB]

AlexB....actually you can still buy logbooks onboard for a £1 and the crew will happily pass it up to the flight deck to be signed...unfortunately you wont be able to accompany it up there unless the plane is parked at a stand!!!


Nooooooo! its just not as fun is it? :(

I remember ~'96 when my cousin was killed in a motorbike accident in portugal, on the flight back home the captain invited me to sit in the jumpseat for the last 40 mins of flight, i nearly wet myself with excitement :O I wore a headset on approach, activated the rain repellent switch,and the FO spent 15 mins telling me that I should become and airline pilot because the BA pension was excellent.

Ahhhh memories!

[Rainboe]

And now BA is trying to make it very ordinary!
'Twas one of the pleasures having youngsters visit the FD and twirl the Heading knob- some were really stunned to think they actually controlled the aeroplane. In those days most of us carried postcards, stickers and whatever else there was for the kids that an increasingly parsimonious airline would let us have to give away. Unbelievably, they disappeared in a succession of 'profit drives'.
I used to get annoyed when a request 'to bring a child up' resulted incredibly with a man carrying a baby onto the FD, as if they would get anything out of the visit! We invariably would- the aroma of a soiled nappy filling the FD! It happened so often I had to start asking the brat's age before agreeing.
All history now!

[urdy gurdy]

maybe he gave you a peice of his ego. he probably had plenty to go around...
the world...
four or five times over

[FLCH]

If you were carrying a little puppy named "Scraps" then he probably handed you a friction motor 727.....just like Captain Oveur does to all the kids !!

[dwshimoda]

Rainboe,

Back in 1996 I took my then girlfriend, now wife, to Amsterdam with BA from Manchester. When I asked her if she'd ever visited the flightdeck, incredibly the answer was no - so at the age 23 she made her first visit to the FD, and got to initate the descent to AMS - she came back with the biggest grin ever on her face. 9 years on and I'm in the middle of ATPL training, and her support is incredible, and I belive in part, to that experience.

It is terrible that these visits can not take place any more, and of lament that if I am lucky enough to pass all my exams, and then even luckier to get a job, she will never be able to see me in action, nor my parents who are also helping me out. :(

DW

[Rainboe]

Unfortunately in this age of litigation and people ever with an eye on publicity, as well as the security aspects, the facility to visit the FD had to be withdrawn. We had a couple of Captains in deep trouble because of it, one was photographed by another passenger visiting the FD with an infant girl on his knee who was reaching towards the pretty buttons. I believe he sold the picture to the papers and for a long time it appeared his job was history when it was published with some nonsense about 'pilot letting infant control aeroplane!'. Then we have insane idiots like Mukonyi trying to kill everybody- unfortunately the security people have overreacted by banning everybody, but that is a sympton of this day and age and some of the nasty/insane people out there.

[bluebird121]

:ok: I was very fortunate to have been allowed to have a look in the cockpit of a Thomas Cook Boeing 757.. from Glasgow to Las Palmas..i has asked to cabin crew beforehand and the Captain okied it . so after all the passengers had left I had a quick look in...my first impression was how small and compact it was..but the pilots were very pleasant and i did not stay long as they were busy preparing for the return journey.. but as the Captain said. long gone are the days where passengers were allowed in the cockpit during the flight.thanks to the 9/11 attack..

[FLCH]

Likewise prior to 9/11 our trips to the back of the cabin while flying overseas are sorely missed, can't stretch your legs anymore and shake off the fatigue (or scope out the talent)...no just a couple of steps to the head, then back to the saltmine. :(

[apaddyinuk]

FLCH, The chaps in my airline still pop back from time to time! Its very rare that you see it these days but I think thats cos some of them are afraid of the crew!!! LOL!!! But think about it, My airline has its pilots crew rest areas in the passenger cabins so the regularly have to wander back into the lungs of the aircraft!

[Rainboe]

Think about this chaps. The new security arrangements were introduced because of Mukonyi and 911. Now if you have bad people in the cabin wanting to do the same thing again, they are going to try it on when the flightdeck is least manned and a pilot is out of the flightdeck, or in transit. That is the logical time to give it a go, so the only response is to try and minimise transit through the door, and the age of luxury strolls by the pilots through the cabin are gone. It still seems incredible that public transport systems of innocent people of all shades and religions are seen by some as a valid target for extermination for political/religious motives, but that is how it is. It's very sick, which is why I wish George Bush all the good fortune in the world for rubbing those creeps out!

[Wycombe]

I wasn't to know it at the time, but the following just calls into focus what a sadder place the world now is.

I was in Tenerife (on hols from the UK) on 9/11, having flown down from LGW in a JMC A320 4 days before.

Once south of Faro, I politely produced my PPL and asked the No1 if a visit to the FD would be possible (I remember a queue of wide-eyed kids preceeding me).

Then followed a interesting 20 mins chatting, and reviewing the approach plates for TFS (I was contemplating the IMC rating at the time). I was made welcome, just like I have been on many different airlines in many different places over the years

Coming back Northbound 2 weeks later was a somewhat different and sombre experience.

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[bluebird121]

:) Yes i agree . we cannot let the terrorists win.. but we have to also consider the safety of the plane and all the crew and passengers..after all do we really know what a terrorist looks like..they need not necessarily look foreign.and they could conceivably recruit someone who to all in tents and purposes looks like a tourist..
I was so lucky and it made my holiday as they allowed me in to have a look on the flight deck and a quick chat..as i knew they had a quick turn around..but now that i think about it i could have been anyone..they had no way of checking who i was..and that thought kinda scares me ..but i do not know what the answer to that would be other then totally forbidding anyone to go into the flight deck..and that would be such a shame..:ooh: .

[Rainboe]

Bluebird, it is not only to the people in tents that they look like terrorists (sorry- poking a bit of fun at you there!). The evil, Godforsaken 911 murderers were, in fact, extremely 'westernised' Arabs with a good command of English, and had lived in western democracies for years in some cases. True evil doesn't wear a uniform.
The potential for doing damage on the ground is very limited, so that is when visits are still often possible, though very time constrained. I think very few pilots would not respond to a nicely written request for a visit, especially if you were to say why and give a few brief details about who and what you are and what is your interest. So prepare one before you leave home.

[bluebird121]

:ok: Thanks very much for that advice..yes i did appreciate the joke about the "tents"..i never thought about writing a letter ..it is the best idea of all..as i got a bit tongue tied when i was in the cockpit and all the things i meant to ask.. i forgot..so that would have been the answer...here's to the next time..

[Rainboe]

Don't be shy! It's actually a very pleasant diversion for a few minutes for a pilot to chat with someone who is genuinly interested and impressed, has knowledge and wants to learn more and shows enthusiasm. If it is declined, it will probably be because of a big hurry, as in running late. Try and make your letter good and written well, and sensible. You will almost certainly succeed.

[Tal66]

Ok, so if i prepare a letter, im about to board the aircraft, how do i get it to the pilot? like do you give it to flight attendant as your bording or wait until your inside the plane? now that iv found its still possible to have a look in the cockpit im stoked.

[Rainboe]

You're not going to be able to go before take-off unless you have a big delay, so give it to the cabin crew and hope for a quick visit after shut down. It might help to make the letter neat and nicely written and with your best grammar.