The best/worst fam flight I ever had

[Cavemonster]

....any suggestions?

I fondly remember some Cyprus Fam Flights in particular. Mostly because sometimes the time spent on board allowed me to say hello to the sharp end, get completely trolleyed, sober up, sleep and start again. Notably once when the route was Heathrow-Orly-Paphos-Larnaca, get to hotel bar to find it being propped up by some dodgy looking characters who I then discover to be fellow ATCOs from the previous day's trip.

Worst: BA Trident just after the ATCO strike in the early 80s. It was part of a BA simulator course at Cranebank part of the cadetship and we had to do a real trip to round it off. On the way out the Capt told me to sit down the back (ok). For the return from Manch it was the same crew but the plane was full; he said first that he wasn't having 'any ATCO in his cockpit as ATCOs are bankrupting my company'. Then the FO or station manager explained that CAA were paying for the course I was on, blah blah, so he eventually agreed to let me ride back to LHR up front but on the basis that I didn't say a word. I have never felt so embarassed in my life!

[qwerty2]

The Best was a trip in a Bristows SK61 around the Forte Oil Field Rigs and Fire Ship .... great grub , fantastic flying skills and after 3 hours virually no fuel left.

The worst was a BA Tristar Heathrow- De Gaulle where the Cabin Director told me that the Captain could spare me a few minutes just prior to landing.
I declined the invitation.

[AlanM]

Fam flights.......emmmm I should know what they are.......nope not done one recently........

Best were when at EGLF on a few bizjets. Not often a fam flight person OFFERS to sit in the back on their own! (and of course the hostie and a drinks cabinet!).

Great days :D:D

[vertigo]

Third best fam flight was when I got five minutes in the right hand seat of an A320.

In the cruise, I got to disconnect the A/P and hand fly it.
I was told to 'just follow that pink line', then once I got the hang of it, 'weave off, then try and rejoin the line' . (Don't know what the passengers thought.)



Second best was the following day when I got into the left hand seat ten minutes after take off and stayed there until ten miles out of heathrow. They let me do all the 'work' while the f/o did the R/T.



...and my best fam flight was when I got the hosties phone number :D

[eastern wiseguy]

Has to be when Air Malta found they could not get us back to the UK and we discovered the ramp littered with Aer Lingus aircraft which had just brought most of the male population of Ireland to see the Irish football team play the maltese.A little bit of negotiation with the EIN ground guys and 10 minutes later 2 BFS atco's were sitting in the back of their own B747 being flown back to Dublin...crew three ...pax two ...thereafter known as the "company hack" Thank you Shamrock!!:D





BRING BACK FAM FLIGHTS....... :mad: :mad: :mad:

[flower]

I have been on some fabulous fam flights over the years, getting to know the crews you control every day and making some good friends out of it.

The worst i suppose had to be when I turned up at the flight and the flight deck knew nothing about me, the captains girlfriend had been given the jumpseat and then was promptly told by the company that it had to be me in there so you can imagine the atmosphere, I did say I would come back another day but in the end stayed , i am just grateful it was a Paris return flight so didn't have to stay to long with them.

The most eventful was onboard a Maersk B737 to Berlin, Great crew made to feel very welcome, but ended up having to push in circuit breakers etc for them during the flight as things kept going wrong , then upon arrival in Berlin the fun really started, sheet ice causing the aircraft to slide whilst parking on a remote stand , the captain refusing to let the PAX disembark as it was unsafe , negotiating for over an hour for an airbridge stand , then having to power back as the tug couldn't get a grip , several hours later we finally managed to get de-iced to return and had just seconds to spare on the time because of the long queue at the hold .

I have had some great fam flights particularly with British Airways who always went out of their way to make you feel wanted , the best I suppose has to be the night stop in New York and staying in the Crew hotel with them on my Birthday , not being allowed to put my hand in my pocket and drinking Long Island Ice teas until the early hours.

I agree with Eastern Wiseguy bring back fam flights

[vertigo]

What about the ATCO who went on a fam flight to Italy.
On the way back they suffered an engine failure after take off and the crew shut down the wrong engine.
I think they put it down in a field and all walked away.

[Hydroforming Bushmaster]

Vertigo

Thanks for reminding me about that one; as I recall it was a BCAL (or BUA?) 1-11 out of Milan. The ATCO was allegedly Mike Bloodworth aka Major Bloodnock. I wonder if anyone knows if it is true?

Mike was (and hopefully still is) a nice chap; I remember him asking lots of detailed questions all the time at work. Someone said that he had a tape recorder with him on the F/F and having walked away from the crash confronted the Capt with a mike and asked if he could say why the aircraft crashed!

I suspect the reply was (unintelligible) as they say

[sabredog]

Mike Bloodworth, a name from the past indeed.
I was under the impression the incident took place at Corfu in the late sixties, with the aircraft running into the Lagoon at the eastern end of the runway. Fortunately, both Mike and his tape recorder were unscathed.
Regards to everyone at the Hippodrome of Dreams.
Sabredog.

[vector4fun]

Lots of great FAM flights, My Dad's retirement flight in particular, then there was the time I got to fly a T-39 for 45 minutes of approaches and pattern work.

But the worst I ever heard of happened to an old, old friend many years ago. He took up an Air Force Officer's offer of a ride in a B-36 Bomber. Supposed to be a 4-6 hour hop. Sometime during the ride, SAC called an alert as they were wont to do back then, and the B-36 and crew wound up making something like an 18-20 hour flight up over Alaska to near the North Pole and back to New Mexico via middle Canada.

Of course, his wife became worried near dark and began trying to phone someone at the base who could tell her where her dear husband was at. Naturally, SAC at that time wasn't in the habit of releasing information on the location of it's Bombers and crews. She became convinced there had been an accident and her husband was dead, and SAC was covering everything up.

Pete said she damned near killed him anyway when he came in the door next day......

[ATCO Two]

The ATCO on the "eventful" flight in Italy was in fact Brian Jones - currently Heathrow Tower. My best (and worst) fam flight was landing at JFK in a Concorde with a double hydraulic failure and veering off the side of the runway, but I won't bore you all with the details. Then there was the B747 trip when we had an airmiss and then were struck by lightning....

Bring back fam flights? Nah, far too dangerous! Tee hee.

[mr.777]

You lucky ******s is all I can say!
I'm due to start training in Oct2003 and one of things I was really looking forward to was the 2weeks of fam trips....which has now been shelved.Any idea if they will ever come back.....or am I deluding myself?Fortunately in my previous life as a dispatcher I did a couple of jump seat trips,highlight being A320 Cat3b autoland into CDG...those a/c really do fly themselves!
P.s the double hydraulic failure on SSC sounds great.....feel free to bore me with the details anytime!

[Stunty]

Best - Sitting on an Esky (cooler, chilli bin or whatever else you call it) between the two pilots, in a Lear Jet, doing 2 v 2 intercepts against Fa18's over NT, Australia.

[zed3]

Yup , also had some good ones - 20 mins hand flying a b733 in the rh seat , Concorde New York to Heathrow and c135 tanking AWACS to name a few.

[halo]

I am sooooooooooo never getting on an aircraft with anybody from Heathrow ;)

The fam flight scheme was one of the best things about air traffic. They should bring it back!!

[Captain Windsock]

Best famflight was sitting in left hand seat of BAC 111 from DCS to Dieppe whilst the Capt was chatting to his friend down the back.

Worst was Chinook flight which engine failed on departure from oil rig. I thought I was going to end up in the North Sea but got away with hard landing back on the rig. Eventually when they brought me home the two crew had a full blown argument on whether they should return SVFR or IFR . The Capt was junior to the P2 in terms of company seniority and they forget there was an ATCO in the cockpit. Intresting.....

[Hew Jampton]

Three admissions of ATS staff illegally flying aircraft during Fam Flights, and/or occupying a control seat (if it isn't illegal, it should be). I wonder if the people who so stoutly asserted that this never takes place, after a TV programme last year (Confessions of Cabin Crew?), are reading this thread? If the demise of Fam Flights means an end to this practice - good; although the huge benefits to both sides of legal and safe Fam Flights are undisputed.

[left outer, right inner]

Hello all!

I love the old fam flights....went ion a great one to milan and back with someone that halo knows quite well.

By the way, I am having a great laugh at the college for anyone that knows me! The work has started to pile up a bit now, but it is all good fun- a bit nerve racking on the sims the first couple of times tho.....'tug3 cleared take off....'!!!!! Great stuff!

I am also looking forward to the BA course where we get to have a couple of fam flights around europe!

All the best

LORI

[BrandNewMudguard]

Hew Jampton, don't be such a bore.

[Max Angle]

Hew Jampton has a good point, be carefull who you admit it to. More than one pilot has been sacked for giving flying lessons on revenue flights and as CAA licence holders you may not come out of it smelling of roses either. Great fun I am sure but keep it under your hat.

[chiglet]

Best 11/2 hour in a Hawk from RAF Valley:D :D [I was ] a RAF[VRT] FO:p at the time
Worst. A DC10 Manch-Alicante-Manch. I was "invited" by the First Officer. The "original" Capt went sick, and the new guy thought that I was a CAA inspector:confused: . It was only while taxying in at Manch that the Flight Deck Crew realised that I wasn't. Needless to say, the offer of another "Fam Flt" was not taken up:p
we aim to please it keeps the cleaners happy

[Rudolph Hucker]

Never mind Hew about how legal it is for ATC staff to fly, in my case I was worried that the first officer was on an almost equal position to me! Some 12 years ago I managed to bag a trip on a DC6 to some exotic Caribbean island; on return to base P1 had decided he had a long day and asked the FEng if 'the British guy in the jumpseat' wanted to have a go.

What could I say - 40 minutes in the left hand seat of a REAL aeroplane over those crystal blue waters. I've managed to get a few good trips in my time, but that was the right up next to dogfighting with a Sea Harrier whilst sat in the back of the Boscombe Comet 'Canopus'....

On the subject of fam flights, I seem to remember some ex-Heathrow colleagues (John MacDermot, Derek Harriss RIP and Terry Quantrill I think) getting a ride to Budapest with Malev. The shock came when the captain gladly handed the RTF over to Derek for the entire journey!

And lastlly, there was an 'ATCO scam' at Heathrow whenever anyone had a fam flight with MEA to Beirut; it was deemed by some wag as a good bet that they wouldn't return and took out a (long since removed) short term travel insurance policy from a hole in the wall in T2!

[Gisajob]

Anyone remember ‘Jeapes tours’

Back in 1975 Flt Lt John Jeapes from LATCC Mil (God Bless Him) arranged many fam flights for RAF ATCOs.

One which he arranged at very short notice for me was a ‘Tradeswinds’ cargo 707 flight out of Gatwick going East for about 12 days – was I interested ? Of course John.

So I turned up at Gatwick at 0400 on a Sunday morning after a fantastic party in London and was poured onto the aircraft. Thanks Capt.

I woke up with a headache and stumbled into the cockpit to make my apologies and to find out where I was heading. As I looked out of the cockpit all I could see was sand and mortar emplacements as we were on final approach to some airfield. I asked where were we going and was told ‘Benghazi’. Now I was a Flight Lieutenant RAF ATCO (the crew thought that I was a Civil Aviation Authority ATCO from LATCC) and this was a Libyan Airbase with Russian MiGs. (Gulp). After landing a Russian Air Force Officer entered the cockpit and asked the Tradeswind crew, who were all wearing company uniforms ‘ Who is this’ pointing his gun at me. (My life flashed before me – the headlines in the Daily Mirror “ RAF spy captured on Russian airbase). They replied nonchalantly ‘ he’s only an ATCO on a fam flight.

The crew then went walkabout to look at all the MiGs on the flight line whilst the aircraft was refuelled for cash at bargain fuel prices. I hid in the cabin.

Next stop was Mogadishu where the aircraft was stopped from departing to Bombay due to red tape. I offered to go to the control tower to see if I could help. The Colonel in charge of ATC was a fellow student on my RAF Shawbury course so after swapping tales the aircraft was up and away within minutes. This returned my credibility no end.

We landed in Bombay in a storm and then flew to Hong Kong and Taipei. Karachi was next and then to Liverpool where I caught a train back to Gatwick.

Now that was a fam flight to remember.

Gisajob

[SPRATLEVEL300]

The worst fam flight was CYP to Larnaca. Having handed the letter of introduction to the cabin crew, we had to wait until all the kids on board visited the flight deck first.
We got 10 minutes in the cruise and then were asked to leave.
The return flight was slightly better, apart from the outbound Captain who was dead heading back to London totally ignoring us.

Had a few where no invite at all to the flight deck (EIN and SAS). Having said that, I have also had good flights with EIN and SAS.

All the BAW transatlantic fam flights have been excellent. Made to feel really welcome by the flight deck and treated very well by the cabin crew. Normally sat in business or first (even allowed a few hours sleep in a crew bunk behind the flight deck.) Crews were always very generous when we socialised at destination.

Thanks B.A

[375ml]

Can I get some idea of the rules for UK based ATCO famil flights? In oz they have just reinstated the program with QFA but it can only be a same day return flight... ie, pretty much useless unless you are really stuck for things to do on a rostered day off.

[Bright-Ling]

375ml - the answer at the moment is that we are not allowed at all.

No - one is 100% sure of the reason - but it is believed to be because the CAA have put the restriction on, but who knows?

One thing is for certain, it is clearly detrimental to ATCO's wanting to learn more.

B-L

[Brakes to Park]

Flower

Absolutely amazing to read your account of your flight to Berlin with Maersk. I was the F/O that day and I remember it like it was yesterday. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong (on the ground I may hasten to add!!!). Don't remember the bit about the CBs though!

The Captain that day has now retired from airline flying and is passing on his vast knowledge to student PPLs at Wellesborne. He was affectionately known , in his own words , as "The Old Phart"

Are you still at BHX?

[Avman]

Just two of many memorable fam flights. JFK-LHR on the J/S of Concorde including the 31L Canarsie departure - and no jetlag after an eastbound oceanic flight, and, in 1970, taking the L/H seat 5mins after take-off until TOD on a PMI-MAN Dan-Air Comet, navigating (i.e. setting up the VORs NDBs etc) and doing the R/T.

On the subject of third parties flying the a/c, I remember in the late sixties a Cambrian Airways Viscount Captain who regularly took his 16 year old son along and allowed him to fly the entire trip including the take-off and landing. This was on the night time LPL-BFS newspaper flights. I, as the only pax, was once allowed to fly an Air Anglia PA-31 for about 25 mins, some of it IMC :eek:

Unfortunately today there are too many sad people like Hew Jampton in the aviation world :mad: The good days are over :(

P.S. I recently heard from a top neddy at BA that Fam Flights are to be reintroduced in the not too distant future but probably not to US destinations.

[Hew Jampton]

Avman, if One Kemble Street want a final nail in the coffin of the Fam Flight scheme, you and certain other posters have supplied it.

If "the good days" encompassed unqualified people flying commercial aircraft (including to my mind sitting in a control seat in flight) with the consequences like the accident in Russia or a comparatively recent alleged level bust in the UK then it is good that they are over. It's quite worrying that people like you probably hold ATCO licences.

[250 kts]

Come on let's get some perspective here. We all know that in the past things went on that wouldn't even be a starter today, but the industry has developed especially over the last 10/15 years so the kind of things mentioned earlier have been pretty well if not totally eradicated.

There is a very good educational case for Fam flights to exist both for the ATCO and also for the flight crews. If the right balance is struck- and in my experience nowadays it is-i then there is no need for the suspension to continue.

PS. My vivid memory was a Laker A300 ferrying to Palma from MAN. At FL370 ALL the crew and I except the Pilot Flying were in the forward hold -accessed I seem to remember beneath the Jump Seat, no doubt I'll be corrected if wrong -dancing to music on a cassette recorder with a few tinnies.

Ah the Good Old Days:eek: :D :cool:

[Avman]

Hew Jampton ,

I'm confident that I represent the majority. You on the other hand represent the minority. Unfortunately, today, the world is ruled by minorities. It will soon I'm sure be made illegal to have any fun at all in life. Simplifying a complex issue I'd say that that's why there's more stress than ever in our business: too many idiotic rules and regulations and having to watch your back every second. I have lived for aviation since the age of six. Now, I'm rapidly losing interest and can't wait to get out.