Entertainment
 

After food in The Independent, now entertainment in the: BBC News - Singapore Airshow: The fight for eyeballs in mid-air
(as before) Discuss :p
Eeeee, I think they realised it a while back! I recall VS introducing hand held video 8 players in Upper Class (with a small library of tapes) to provide a personal view. That was just a few days ago ... 26 years worth of days ago.:8

:ugh: . . . . . . . . . .

And in 1964 I can confirm that TWA was showing movies in coach. The feature that I saw on my first TATL flight (JFK-LIS) was "Send Me no Flowers," with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. Made an impression on this 10-year old.

Inflight Movies and More
 

American Airlines had black and white televisions onboard their 707s in the early 60s that could not only show over the air broadcasts but were hooked up to the live cameras on the nose gear and in the cockpit for takeoff and landing.

AA also pioneered multiple movie screens in the economy section of the aircraft. To do this required multiple projectors with the film streaming through the system from the front to the take-up reel in the rear.

If you were sitting toward the rear, you could watch the same scene on three or four different screens but with the audio only synced up to the screen nearest you.

Still miss the live cameras. Those went away after the DC-10 crash in Chicago.

TB

I remember the 8mm film cassettes used on SAA 747-100s in the late 70s. It was projected onto a screen at the front of the cabin - immediately above the bassinets (Y) - thus keeping the babies awake!

The early earphones were hollow tubes, feeding the sound from micro speakers built in the arm rest. might uncomfortable they were too.

At check-in: "Smoking or Non?" "Film or not?"

Cathay Pacific had a camera underneath on their 777s five years ago. It was behind the nosewheel, because on approach that suddenly popped out into the centre of the view on the flight where they left the IFE powered for approach and landing.

That would be around the same time as BA were in the process of changing over from their original 16mm projectors, which naturally were huge and weighed a ton.

Paxboy
First films I can remember were on 707 with centrally mounted projectors dropping from roof in the gangway (I think) and it would be BCAL either coming up from, or going to South America when at school. For some reason I think it was Annie Hall so mid 1970,s. However you only got 1 film for the whole trip, and yes I do remember those tube like earphones as well. In retrospect you do forget how spoiled we are now on long haul for entertainment at least.


TrakBall
Most long haul carriers I have flown recently have nose camera,s and even tail camera on A380. I did not know that you did not have them on carriers on your side of the pond (I assume you are in US). If I am going your way then I am on a European carrier for the long haul section, so only smaller A/C inside the empire where I do not expect to have in flight cameras.


Regards
Mr Mac

My understanding is that the first film shown on a plane was on a pleasure trip around Chicago in 1921, and the first in airline service was Imperial Airways UK to France in 1925.

My choice of IFE is good classical or jazz on headphones while watching moving map or film/tv on seat-back screen and looking out of the window, when possible. Some planes' systems (e.g. Virgin 747) allow the picture to be on while the radio plays.

Quote (how is one supposed to do that?):
The early earphones were hollow tubes, feeding the sound from micro speakers built in the arm rest. might uncomfortable they were too.

There was a secondary use for them in the garage where they become a cheap and cheerful stethoscope which is useful for setting the balance of twin carburettors (remember carburettors?!) and tracking down odd mechanical noises.;)

Was about to say that I found these "air" phones the only way to properly adjust the twin SUs on my TR3.

Fuselage cameras
 

All Cathay Pacific Airways B777-300 series aircraft, not -200, are fitted with fuselage and horizontal stabiliser mounted cameras to aid the pilots during taxi-ing due to the extra fuselage length. Also to be able to monitor the rear of the wings, engines and undercarriage if the need arises.

CX and other airlines still have these cameras fitted today as standard fitment from Boeing.
The fuselage camera is what you view from your seat monitor and see the NLG doors close just after take-off...into a cloud.

I remember the old reel films being loaded into the zoned ceilings of the early BOAC B747-136 aircraft, no pause button then!

The air tube headsets were £1 to hire for the trip

TW

There are a couple of ways to do that.

1. Click on the reply button. When the reply box opens go up to the URL in your browser and change the "noquote=1, at the end to =0 and then press return. When the new reply box opens you've got the text enclosed in [qote] and [\qote] (intentionally misspelled].

2. Enclose any text you wanted quoted in [qote] and [\qote] (intentionally misspelled]. You can use the quote button (3rd from the left) on the last row of buttons.

Between 1964 and 1968 my older brother and I (aged 8-12) regularly flew unaccompanied between UK and USA on BOAC, Pan Am and TWA. It was on a TWA flight (DC8 or 707) that we first saw a film with a projector hanging from the ceiling but we had no money so could not hire the sound tube earphones. Then Pan Am started showing films, but again we could not afford the earphones, incredibly unfair to us! On subsequent TWA flights the flight attendants used to take pity on us a slip us headphones without charging; I think they were quite expensive then. Pan Am never gave us any so we preferred TWA! BOAC started films later which was a shame, but at least we had the best flights available then....BOAC/Cunard Super VC 10s.

Schroedinger's SU Carb balancer remark got my interest as I had an MG in the late 1970s and bought a Gunson tuner for its twin SU Carbs and it instantly reminded of those old "ear trumpet" style earphones!

Thread drift.
So, for the not motor car fixers amongst us, how do you use an airline 'steathscope' to tune a carburettor? I presume that the engine is running - so that would drown all sound?

Good find Dave, that takes me back! Simple but effective.

Entertainment? Really?
 

Movies and lousy games is entertainment? Flying for 13-15 hours in a stinking tube and all get is movies? Everyone flys at night so I can't even enjoy the view.

I'll tell ya what we pax want and that's REAL entertainment!

Live bands.
A guy juggling.
Comedians.
Live shows. Cabaret acts!
A mini golf course. Say 3 holes.
A practise putting green.
An area to practise my bowling action into some cricket nets.
Darts.


See that's entertainment. Not a b grade movie! They can do it on cruise ships, why not on airliners?

And that its where Airbus went wrong with its tubby double decker. Think of the fun that's possible with the whole upper deck only used for real entertainment!

Jumping castles!! :ok:

After that post, ruddman, all the majors will be oferring you a job! But a bouncy castle would be nice ... :}

We have pretty much reached the stage with personal digital devices (ipads/ipods/laptops/tablets etc) where all the airline needs to provide for entertainment is GOOD, free WiFi and power connections (because batteries are still mostly useless). then everyone can occupy themselves and the kiddies with films, shows, music, games, work programs and the ever so fascinating internet.

Added big bonus. No IFE weight except for WiFi equipment. Big time weight and fuel savings.

Do I have to come up with everything???

I've often thought that Mr Bean could make a really good sketch out of looking at the forward looking camera screen and playing with the "remote control".

As he does, the aircraft starts to respond to the control.

I'n sure that him doing it would be funnier than my plot summary!

Years and years ago on the B737 flight (multistops) between Vancouver and Whitehorse one of the Captains had his own entertainment.

Once at cruise he would turn the aircraft over to the first officer, and then tie two strings to the back of his seat. He would then back out of the cockpit holding one string in each hand. The copilot would watch the tension on the strings and when the right one was tightened he would bank right. When the left was tight he would bank left (etc.) (Of course nobody in the cabin would see any of this)

The captain would then get as far as the first row of seats and ask one of the passengers sitting there if they would mind holding onto the strings while he went to the loo. He would explain that the copilot had called in sick that morning and he had to fly solo. He really needed the loo and would the passenger oblige by holding the strings tied to the wheel. Most often the pax would agree and the captain would disappear into the lavatory. The copilot would then initiate a series of slow banks causing the passenger to pull on the opposite string. After a few minutes of this the Captain would come out of the loo, take the strings back, say thank you, and return to the cockpit. Nothing further was said but the cabin erupted in laughter.

I saw this myself a couple of times on that otherwise very boring flight, and many of the regulars knew the game as well.

Impossible today though :bored:

Perhaps we need a thread 'playing jokes on the pax'? But it would have to be in 'Aviation History and Nostalgia'. ;)

Thread Drift

My nephew told me this;
Whilst working on the Jetstream 41 in the 1990s, they had many visitors to the office in those days on domestic routes (in another country).

One young woman was particularly pretty but, sadly, particularly gullible. The Cpt invited her to stay on the jump seat for landing and my nephew was told to give the briefing.

When he got to the point about possibly having to jump out of the side window and shimmy down the rope ... she queried this. He replied:
"If I go out that window - don't hesitate - but you'll know what to do as I have <airline name> regulation shoes and printed on the soles is: FOLLOW ME."

Quote:

The air tube headsets were £1 to hire for the trip

And the cabin crew loved them! There were 'cottage industry's' around recycling them, allegedly, with some folks re-sealing them in their plastic bags using a travelling iron!

There was one chap who was said to have bought a 50,000 headset house.

£1 per trip to hire....yup, sounds about right, equivalent to perhaps £10-20 today! As a young boy it was completely beyond my ability, at that time I was getting £1 per whole school term in pocket money! That's why myself and my brother were so fond of the TWA flight attendants who gave them to us free.

http://cdn.head-fi.org/f/f4/350x263p...IMG_0169a.jpeg

For the youngsters reading, this is what we are talking about. Uncomfortable to use as they never sat straight, always managing to bend up on one side and down on the other. There were mini speakers in the arm rest and the sound travelled up plastic tubes. With the introduction of the SONY WALKMAN in the early 1980s, small, light and cheap headphones were being mass produced and these took over.

Someone came up with an adaptor that plugged into the socket and contained a microphone and amplifier which enabled normal headphones to be used.

Yes and crew preyed that a movie would break down in a zone and have to refund the £1 or $2.50 back. They always claimed on paper more than they gave back to passengers. Guess where the 'extra' cash went?