Where does the term cockpit come from?

[shon7]

Was watching the movie - concorde yesterday and there is a joke in it when the stewardess tries to make a pass at the captain and says , "oh so this is a real mans job." His reply, " honey , they don't call it the cockpit for nothing!!!". .. .Anyway, just wondering where the term 'cockpit' comes from?

[airtight]

Back in the early days of aviation the "cockpit" was so named because this was the location of a/c controls such as the fuel cock etc.. .So there you go. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="smile.gif" />

[Kalium Chloride]

An alternative suggestion is that it is derived from the "cock pit" used in cock-fighting days -- the small area where the intense activity was focused. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="cool.gif" />

[160to4DME]

No No No. .. .All male flightdecks are cockpits. .. .All female ones are box offices. .. .Oh 'eck, are we going to jetblast ?? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" />

[Captain104]

Like the box office. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .Cockpit was a depression in the deck of a boat. . .In yachts the pit aft of the cabin occupied by a helmsman.. . . . <small>[ 16 March 2002, 14:55: Message edited by: Captain104 ]</small>

[phd]

I think Captain104 has it correct - the person manning the tiller on a boat is the coxswain or cox so the original term was perhaps derived from the combination of cox and pit - thus cox-pit which was modified to cock-pit. Of course I could be talking rollocks or even rowlocks!