'It would never happen today' moments

[justapax]

Originally Posted by tdracer

1989 IIRC, I was flying Montreal to Vancouver (BC) on an A320 after a meeting with Air Canada. Before boarding, the agent asked if I would mind giving up my window seat in coach for an aisle seat in Business (duh!) so she could seat a family together.
After a very nice in-flight meal and a few drinks, I noted a flight attendant taking a couple of youngsters to visit the flight deck. As the A320 was still quite new and novel at the time, I wanted to see the flight deck as well - so I signaled the FA, told her I was an engineer for Boeing, and would be interested in visiting the cockpit if possible. A quick trip to the pointy end to confirm, and I was taken up front and introduced to the pilots. Talked to them at length about what they disliked (non-moving thrust levers) and liked (pretty much everything else) in the A320. I was in the flight deck for roughly 20 minutes before I figured I should excuse myself and let them get on with the job at hand...
Those were the days

What, as a Boeing engineer, did you make of the A320? I didn't realise it had been around that long, or that it had the range to fly Montreal to Vancouver. Most A320 flights in Europe are short, e.g., London to Brussels or Paris, but reading the Wikipedia article I see that it is capable of much longer-haul flights.

[tdracer]

Originally Posted by Justapax1

What, as a Boeing engineer, did you make of the A320? I didn't realise it had been around that long, or that it had the range to fly Montreal to Vancouver. Most A320 flights in Europe are short, e.g., London to Brussels or Paris, but reading the Wikipedia article I see that it is capable of much longer-haul flights.

I was really interested in what the pilots thought of it (Air Canada was operating quite a few 767s at the time, which I'd spent the majority of my career working). As noted, they really liked it except for the non-moving thrust levers (which was of particular interest to me as a Propulsion engineer). Moving levers are very fundamental to the Boeing philosophy, I very seriously doubt you'll ever see a Boeing aircraft with human pilots that has non-moving thrust levers (then again, I never thought I'd see Boeing contract out building the wing - yet they did just that on the 787),
Since most of my flight deck experience at the time had been 767s (e.g. EICAS), the A320 didn't look a whole lot different aside from the side stick controllers/no yoke.

[Musket90]

Late 90's on flight from Canaries to Gatwick with Monarch Airlines A300 I managed to get visit to the cockpit with teenage daughter who was keen on aviation. On seeing her I think the flight crew wanted to impress. We were cruising at FL370 and she was allowed to sit in the right hand seat. Captain dis-engaged the autopilot and instructed her to move the control column slightly right and left allowing slight right and left bank. Autopilot was then re-engaged and we went back to our allocated seats seeing many other passengers looking very worried. Daughter has since spent many enjoyable years employed in the aviation and travel industry,

[stevef]

Sabena flight from Kinshasa to Brussels in 1993. We had a late departure due to fuelling issues and a further delay because of industrial action by French ATC. I had a connecting flight to Heathrow and it looked likely I was going to miss it. When I got to the transit desk, gloomily prepared for an overnighter on a terminal seat, I was rushed through the airport and onto an aircraft (DC9?) that had been waiting for me for half an hour. I wish I could remember which airline it was (possibly British Midland), and to this day remain grateful to the airport staff and crew for getting me back. Oh, and apologies to the disgruntled pax that were delayed on my behalf!
Would that happen today!

[Hot 'n' High]

H 'n' H had just got married so off on a "Honeymoon/visiting family in Oz" combo trip. Leg 1 was Cathay 747 LHR to HK. New bride (long since ex now!!!!) was very quiet and, after a while dozed off. Time for a trip up front I thought. Asked a passing member of the Cabin Crew who returned a few minutes later with a "Follow me, Sir!" so I picked my way past my Dearest without waking her and headed up front. This was somewhere near the Black Sea and I expected to be up there just for a few minutes. Dearest would probably not notice my short absence.

A very bored but great Flight Crew and I started chatting. Once they'd clocked I was, at the time, an Air Engineer and did a bit of Gliding and had even had a go flying a Hunter etc, we settled down chatting about this, that and the other. One memory is seeing the Pakistan/India border - a single line of lights from one horizon to the other. Amazing what humans do in their wisdom! And watching planes going the other way down the airway right over us - I literally ducked the first time! So as not to overstay my welcome, every time I made to leave, it cued a further question from the crew. Then, finally, "Ah!" says the Skipper, "time for some dinner!"!!!!! Clearly, this was my cue to leave!

"No, no, no! Stay here - I'll get a menu brought in for you and you can join us!". By now I assumed either my Dearest was (a) still asleep or more likely (b) was filing divorce papers - oh well! And, after all, I was peckish.........! Dinner #2 was most acceptable being off the 1st Class menu. I skipped wine as a sign of solidarity with the Crew. The Himalayas finally appeared in the growing morning light - another amazing sight. Eventually, well East, and as the crew started approach preps, I finally excused myself saying I really should get back aft..... explaining that I needed to face whatever reaction awaited me from my Dearest. They wished me luck - I'm sure a jump-seat into HK itself would have been on the cards had I been on my own but, hey ho............

Returned to my seat only to wake my Dearest up while getting back to my seat. Groggily, she said, "Oh, sorry, I never heard you get up to use the loo!"!!!!! I hesitated .......... and then realised, on this occasion, it would pay to go along with her idea of events. Don't think she ever knew what happened to me that night! It was a flight to remember and I'm indebted to the crew (Cabin and Cockpit) for their amazing hospitality during my "Lock-in" all those years ago.

Years later I tried to do my bit, remembering that trip and Crew. I'd often have a member of the Pax sat up front with me when doing Single Pilot ops. Of course, having quickly assessed my new "crew member", a headset would be provided and, sometimes, if I got the right vibe, "Right, would you mind helping me out by holding my Checklist, Charts and the Flight Log and passing them to me as and when I need them? That would be really great! Oh, and during the flight, if you see any other aircraft, if you could point them out to me as I may not have seen them?" - the latter request included a 15 sec briefing on using the "Clock Code" to add something to the event! Hopefully I sent a good few of them off armed with a "I even helped our pilot out on the flight from XXX to YYY when we went on our holiday!!!!!"-type tale for use at subsequent Dinner Parties.

I also have an aviation story attached to my Honeymoon with Wife #2 - but I'll spare you that one. Oh, and Wife #3 doesn't like flying............

[Peter47]

It was very interesting being invited to the flight deck to land at JFK in the early 90s. (I'd visited the flight deck & was discussing an M.Sc. thesis I was doing on using the two runways at Gatwick as close parralels, and was then invited back for the landing. There was s crosswing and it was rather eerie wondering if we would line up with the runways but, of course, we were fine.

(Many years ago my rather who used to be an RAF pilot was invited to stay on the flight deck for a landing into SIN, and I was really envious, not thinking I would ever get the chance - which of course I won't again.)

Two other thing springs to mind. We had a visit to East Midlands and the group of us were on a bus going down the taxiway directly behind a spitfire weaving from side to side because apparently the pilot couldn't see directly ahead whilsy taxiing. Also in the 90s I was able to organise a trip to Heathrow Airport airport where we travelled around the airport on a coach provided by the airport - part of local community outreach apparently. Not likely to happen now.

[justapax]

Originally Posted by Peter47

a spitfire weaving from side to side because apparently the pilot couldn't see directly ahead whilsy taxiing.

That's standard with a Spitfire, on the ground all you can see in front of you is the cowling of the 27 litre V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. If you want to see where you are going, you weave. I've only ever sat in the cockpit of a stationary Spitfire (although you can fly one on a PPL, it is by all accounts a bastard to fly) and it's very cramped and the view out is not good. I understand that the noise in the cockpit when the Merlin fires up is deafening, and the plane has a very strong in-built tendency to turn right as all single engined planes do, but amplified by so much power going into the prop.

[Piper.Classique]

Originally Posted by Justapax1

That's standard with a Spitfire, on the ground all you can see in front of you is the cowling of the 27 litre V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. If you want to see where you are going, you weave. I've only ever sat in the cockpit of a stationary Spitfire (although you can fly one on a PPL, it is by all accounts a bastard to fly) and it's very cramped and the view out is not good. I understand that the noise in the cockpit when the Merlin fires up is deafening, and the plane has a very strong in-built tendency to turn right as all single engined planes do, but amplified by so much power going into the prop.

Well, not all of them. Depends which way the prep rotates. Bigger the engine and prop, the more it will try to turn. Happens in the air as well, pitch and roll. It's just a big gyroscope, after all.