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Flugzeug A 21st Jun 2022 00:26

Families on flight decks?
 
Again , I wasn’t sure where to post this...
My sister’s been BA cabin crew since 1989- long haul until the post covid ‘everyone’s now mixed fleet’.
As an aviation fan , any ride on an aircraft works for me but I particularly loved being able to sit on the flight deck for departures & landings.
Always at the captain’s discretion of course & I was always made welcome on 747 & 777.
After the September 11th attacks , BA understandably banned crew family from the cockpit.
I am curious , is it policy on all airlines or do some carriers still allow it?
I’m not complaining , tho’ I miss things such as the JFK approach at night & I have always struggled with the idea that the captain’s missus may be a secret terrorist!
No sarcasm please , it’s a genuine question.
Thanks again.

NutLoose 21st Jun 2022 01:00

I think you will find it’s the same all over. Sometimes it can all turn to poo though, an example

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_593

TLDNMCL 21st Jun 2022 03:41

Who knows?
 

Originally Posted by Flugzeug A (Post 11249303)
Again , I wasn’t sure where to post this...
My sister’s been BA cabin crew since 1989- long haul until the post covid ‘everyone’s now mixed fleet’.
As an aviation fan , any ride on an aircraft works for me but I particularly loved being able to sit on the flight deck for departures & landings.
Always at the captain’s discretion of course & I was always made welcome on 747 & 777.
After the September 11th attacks , BA understandably banned crew family from the cockpit.
I am curious , is it policy on all airlines or do some carriers still allow it?
I’m not complaining , tho’ I miss things such as the JFK approach at night & I have always struggled with the idea that the captain’s missus may be a secret terrorist!
No sarcasm please , it’s a genuine question.
Thanks again.

In my remaining lifetime I can't imagine en route flight deck visits being permitted again, family or not.
I've had a few before 9/11 which were sometimes work related, sometimes as a result of being offered the jump seat, and on one occasion asking the cabin crew if the Captain was someone I knew in a previous job ( same name, different person).
Nonetheless it led to a thirty minute stay on the flight deck of a 777 with a fabulous view skimming just above the clouds, with the 2nd Officer showing us through the various instruments and systems, and how they worked in flight.
A shame that the opportunity is denied now, but understandable.

B Fraser 21st Jun 2022 09:29

It has happened, common sense has been applied from time to time.

My best jumpseat ride was on a flight to Zurich where I was the only pax. The cockpit door was left open and I was supplied with plenty of vodka and tonic. All pre-9/11.

redsnail 21st Jun 2022 09:31

The US airlines permit crews to jumpseat but they need to have crew ID and a raft of other permissions. Europe? I haven't heard of any one j/seating unless they are required to be there.
As for families? I really doubt it. Of course there may be some countries that permit it but I am not aware of them.

Mr Mac 21st Jun 2022 09:38

FlugzeugA
Like you I have had a few cockpit visits over the years, the best being a landing in Kai Tak the old Hong Kong airport in a CX 747. However I cannot think of any airline which would allow that now.
You maybe able to do it on a private jet if you are charting it, but I am not sure. It is a shame as I am sure a number of pilots got the flying bug from visits like that when they were younger. I can’t see it coming back in my life time either.

Cheers
Mr Mac

Flugzeug A 21st Jun 2022 10:55

Thanks all.
A pity but understandable.
I’ve been very lucky , flight deck for every take off & landing when accompanying my sister , except once.
JFK at night was memorable as I was there from beginning the descent & the amount of other traffic , normally unseen from the cabin , was incredible.
I went on the crew Xmas trip to Montreal , 777 out & 747 back.
Evening departure & we were about to push back when the tower asked ‘Speedbird ... , are you going to join in the Xmas spirit by putting some festive lights on?’
On another occasion outbound , I was told I could go to the flight deck on the 747 & they were doing check lists when I got there.
No need to interrupt or say hello at that moment , as I was expected.
I sorted out the jumpseat , belt & plugged in the headset without instruction.
When they’d finished , the Captain welcomed me & said ‘I won’t explain anything as you’ve obviously done this before.’
He then pointed at the roof with ‘If things go wrong , there’s a hatch there- you won’t need to look for it as you’ll be following ME!’
MrMac , the only time I couldn’t get on the flight deck was into Kai Tak.
However , I am still on an ID90- beautiful people board at the front & go left!


IBMJunkman 21st Jun 2022 14:40

To this day I am sorry I did not work harder to take advantage of an offer to ride jump seat on a JAL flight from LAX to GRU with John Deakin in the 90s.

wiggy 21st Jun 2022 16:30


Originally Posted by redsnail (Post 11249454)
The US airlines permit crews to jumpseat but they need to have crew ID and a raft of other permissions. Europe? I haven't heard of any one j/seating unless they are required to be there.
As for families? I really doubt it. Of course there may be some countries that permit it but I am not aware of them.

There's at least one airline on the eastern side of the Pond that has (or until recently had) a US style system: crewmembers could jump seat in certain defined circumstances but all sorts of caveats.

Families, nowhere as far as I know.

S.o.S. 21st Jun 2022 16:42

Sadly this is the case. However, as we already have a few flight deck stories in this thread, let us have some more! Make this thread a joyous celebration of that time and, if you have any photos from your visits, please post them too. All are welcome!

longer ron 21st Jun 2022 18:41

Many years ago flying with 'Buzz' from Stansted - Marseille/Marignane.
On one occasion - instead of the usual approach over the etang from the north,the crew told us we would be approaching from the south (ie from the med and approach over the coastal hills).
I was in a cheeky mood that day and asked the cabin crew if it was possible to get the jump seat for landing (I explained that as a rigger - I would not be distracting the crew with silly questions LOL).
I could not have wished for a friendlier crew,the capt was an ex Hatfield rigger and the F/O had also worked on a/c (C130's ?).
The F/O even asked my return date and told me he was flying that day and that i was welcome on the flight deck,that didn't work out as there was a 3rd crew member aboard (and anyway the weather was crap https://www.pprune.org/images/smilies/smile.gif),I did hang about in the cabin after landing to chat to the F/O and thank him again.
If either of the pilots frequent prune...thanks again for a great flight .

Brexoff 21st Jun 2022 22:15

Someone posted a video on Instagram the other day about being the single pax on a Widerøe (I think) Q400 and she was invited to sit in the cockpit for the full flight. She was even given a headset

piperpa46 21st Jun 2022 23:05

I've only been in the cockpit once during flight, but that was a repositioning flight after working all night to fix the aircraft. This would have been in 2011 or so. But it ws great seeing the approach into CPH from up front.

25F 22nd Jun 2022 01:34

2005, an internal flight in PNG (Dash8), having figured out how things work there (to a certain extent), asked cabin crew to ask flight deck if I could go up. No problem; sat through the landing and was told I should have asked earlier to be there for take-off!
I guess there were cross-winds to contend with. What struck me was the amount of control input the Captain was supplying. Yoke all over the place. But aircraft descending precisely down the centre-line. Wings level. Passengers would probably have been "worried" to see what was required to produce this.

SonOfRethymnon 22nd Jun 2022 13:26

As a child (probably late 1980s, maybe early 1990s) I was once invited up to the flight deck on a charter flight to or from Greece - probably LGW to an island. I want to say it was a 757 for Air Europe, but don't really it recall it well. I remember being disappointed as I was too short to see ahead out of the cockpit window, and slightly baffled by the huge number of dials and switches. I remember the captain being friendly and asking questions and me being rather shy - I would get so much more benefit from such a visit now, but obviously there are reasons why that won't happen, and my children won't get that same experience.

Much more enjoyable were the flights in the front seat of various Cessnas when we were on our honeymoon in NZ back in 2010 - I think we were given headsets and I was able to identify most of the dials and switches by then!

PAXboy 22nd Jun 2022 14:00

My first visit was on a VC-10 as a newly signed member of the BOAC Junior Jet Club. December 1965 and the very first flight of my life, LHR-JNB, via CIA + NBO. I know that my siblings and I visited the flight deck but do not remember any detail - the whole event was just so exciting. I was nine years old.

The second was a Cessna 172 in January 1967 at Grand Central Airport, outside JNB as we were then living in Pretoria. It was a local air-tour for my siblings and I.

The third would have been a VC-10 Super, JNB-LHR (via NBO) on a daylight flight in June 1971. They were very much 'old school' flight decks with Flt Eng, Nav and fabulous dials and levers!

I shall have to think carefully as to which was the next visit.

dukiematic 22nd Jun 2022 16:16

NATS engineer in the 1990's: we had ID90 and also the odd occasion when the biz card offered on board would yield an invitation (in the days when NATS and CAA logos were identical). Best visit for me was on a return on Alitalia to Heathrow from Milan on a 3-crew A300. Apart from all three crew turning port side during the taxy to wave to the legions of spotters at the perimeter fence (heart-warming, that), it was the way on the climb out the first item on the checklist about 1000' was to get an ashtray from a Fiat Mirafiori on to the radio pedestal and Eng to light up three fags, one per crew member. Such class! The other bit was almost the entire cruise the Captain chatting to me about life, families, his skiing etc.

Also on arrival at 27R, turning off 180deg getting a prime location view of Concorde in the flare- hearing the proud Italian crew drooling and sighing dreamily was very memorable.

But I also count the scenic route into Cape Town on KLM, complete with historical commentary among my fondest memories....

I'm bound to agree, not again in my lifetime

ExSp33db1rd 23rd Jun 2022 05:24


Sadly this is the case. However, as we already have a few flight deck stories in this thread, let us have some more! Make this thread a joyous celebration of that time and, if you have any photos from your visits, please post them too. All are welcome!
Leaving LAX for TYO, B-747. Gave the usual Welcome Aboard rubbish, route, weather, time of arrival etc then added that if this is your birthday then make the most of it as in about four hours time we will cross the international date line and fly into tomorrow, and that will be the end of it.

A couple of hours later a stewardess brought up a birthday card that they had cobbled up on the back of a First Class Menu card and all signed for a "Lady down the back whose birthday it is ", and wanted the Captain's signature added. I refused and said " I want to see her first, bring her up. "

A few minutes later this gorgeous lady walked on to the flight deck and said "Hello, I’m Xxxxx "

I signed the birthday card and …..we were married 5 months later. ( 34 years ago )



paulc 23rd Jun 2022 14:37

I was lucky to get a day trip Gatwick to Alicante and back on the flight deck of a Laker Airways Bac1-11. 4th November 1979. Also got invited to stay for the landing on SQ 747 into Osaka Kansai 2 days after it opened. Air NZ 767 from Taipai to Auckland sat in flight deck when an alarm when off which turned out to be a toilet smoke alarm as one of the pax tried to have a sneeky cigarette

SWBKCB 24th Jun 2022 12:05

Many years ago loading a Monarch B.720 to Tel Aviv - slight c*ck up on the booking front, one pax too many. Flight crew said we'll take them on the jump seat, went along the whole line of pax waiting to board, getting increasingly incredulous that nobody was interested.

Ended up leaving late after offloading a family :sad:

Hartington 24th Jun 2022 16:12

First time? Bristol 170 of Silver City Lydd-Le Touquet in the late 50s around the age of 10. I discovered in my 30s tat if you asked nicely many piloys would welcome you and, I;m afraid I became a bit of a junkie.
Favourite approach? For very personal reasons San Francisco - Point Reyes 22000 feet, over the city about 12000 down the peninsular to somewhere near Redwood City then left 180 to come back over the spans (San Mateo Bridge) - non-pi;lot language!
Most surprising? Meeting a pilot on Saturday AM who told me he'd done his last 757 trip - going back to 747s, Having gone to Paris Orly on Monday morning very early - beautiful views of Paris. I'd decided not to ask for the cockpit on the way home but there was the pilot I knew.. . On finals to Heathrom we had an A340 cross in front of us as we went for 27R. Except the 340 couldn't land on 27L because something fell off the last departure and now he was in front of us on 27R. This led to very late landing clearance, maximum braking and brake overheat warnings.

S.o.S. 24th Jun 2022 16:26

Great stories, thanks every one. Hartington's sounds like that was a special landing.

PAXboy 25th Jun 2022 00:21

In 1999 I was working in MUC and regularly popping back. One round trip was STN-MUC-STN with GO. For long reasons, this was a freebie from the CEO of GO! The outbound was fine and straight forward. On the return, I heard a distinctive South African accent on the Captain's welcom PA. I wrote a note (cannot recall what but making ref to my SA heritage) and asked a CC to take it forward.

Once in the cruise, I was invited up. I was put on the jump seat and we chatted for a while - it was a Friday evening, already dark (it was November) and poor weather at destination. Naturally we spoke about South Africa and how it was that I had a freebie, personally from Barbara Cassani. When the CC returned to collect me, it seemed that they had discovered I was not a moron and had been on FDs before, I was given a headset and told to strap in for the approach.

It was a VERY lively approach, much as 25F describes. It was raining and gusting srongly (Terribly sorry but I did not write down the METARs) and it was fascinating to watch the control inputs as we approached STN.

Arriving on stand, after shut down, the two pilots turned back to look at me with a sort of, "Well, what did you think of that?". I was still rather spaced out by this first night time and poor weather FD experience and decided to risk a joke. "Well, guys ... I'm really diassapointed ... I thought you were something special - but you had to turn the windsheild wipers on!" Happily, they saw the intended humour and I thanked them for a memorable trip. I was the last off the aircraft.

PlanetEarth 25th Jun 2022 00:29

An airline I worked for up until recently (western Europe). Had the policy that if you wanted to be on the flight-deck inflight, you had to be known by the flight crew. So I've had family, friends etc in the flight deck in the past years.
It's really nice when you can show your family and friends your workplace :)

S.o.S. 26th Jun 2022 17:19

The most memorable FD experience was an 'ordinary' one but made memorable for a sad reason. I was in Scotland on a contract and due to travel south on the Friday 8th of June 2001.

I cannot recall how I got onto the flight deck, what I asked or said - I have no memory. That is because, on the Tuesday of that week, my father died. It was not unexpected as his heart had been failing for a couple of years. We were all glad for him that he went straight out by having 'the big one', rather than a minor heart attack and then the problems that brings. He was 78 and had served in the RAF (hence my interest in aviation) and, just two weeks earlier, he had said to my sister, "If I fall off the perch tomorrow, I won't mind as I've a wonderful life." and he did fall off his perch, as he was writing a letter at his desk, with all his marbles fully intact, when he crumpled to the floor. It was, of course, a big shock to all of us but we were all comfortable that, for him, it was simple.

That Friday evening, it was a 733 of EZY out of EDI and the guys up front were great. They asked if I'd been on a FD before and soon learnt that I was a seasoned Pax. I told them of my father's RAF experience and I was on the jump seat + headset for landing at LTN. I had not been on the FD for LTN before and that flight became special for Dad, as he always enjoyed hearing when I'd been able to get up front.

Mr Mac 26th Jun 2022 21:02

My flight deck experience's started in early 60,s with DC4 / Ambassadors on short hops into Europe from the likes of Southend / Manston / Luton, though to be fair I can hardly remember them, though I do remember a member of Cabin crew showing me around Luton very early in the morning pre flight, which my late Mother identified as 1964.

We then progressed to Viscounts from Southend with Channel Airways on similar routes, with occasional forays into the cockpit, but that was pre 67 so I have little memory directly. There was also a flight on a British Eagle Britannia to Palma, where I got to go up to the pointy end, which I remember seemed to have a huge cockpit in comparison with my earlier experience's and types'. I remember this well, as we were going there to buy a "family" house from where I am typing this evening, which seems appropriate. Palma at the time had a row of Nissan huts, and a horse hitching rail outside, which is a little different to today, Indeed there is a picture at home of me sat on this with AERPURTO DE PALMA sign behind. It was shortly after this that my late Father was posted to Chile, and I started my long association with BCAL 707 on the Santiago to Gatwick service via everywhere in between it seemed, on my way too and from school in the UK.

As I was only young, and as there were others in a similar situation, there where "aunties" supplied by BCAL who were ex cabin crew who looked after us on our routes to South America. I always appeared to be the last off so to speak, as I was going to the terminus, and we were well behaved, though one Auntie let slip that the flights to West Africa and Zambia were more challenging in this regard, as many of the boys were farmers sons and daughters and were less than genteel I think she said. Anyway as a rule on these flights you used to get an invite up if you wanted, usually over the South Atlantic when it was quiet, unless there was trouble in the ITCZ with weather. Surprisingly it was not a common request from my peers, so often you got to sit there for an hour or so if you were well behaved, and did not bore the crew with silly questions, which became easier as I got older obviously.

After the families return to Europe my flight deck experience's declined, so the only one I remember was on a 727 Dan Air from Tenerife to Manchester circa 1975 at Christmas, where we over took a Laker 1-11 from Les Palmas bound for Gatwick off Lisbon. I said I was surprised Laker operated that type on that route and range,which caused much bemusement with the crew, and I stayed in the cockpit until near Bournemouth.

After this there were no visits until a Girlfriend convinced me to dress up as a Bear for a week in support of Children In Need, and she then wrote to both BA / and BMI to see if we could fly around their short UK and closer European Sectors raising cash for that charity. Both thought it was a good idea, but BA had already blown their charity budget that year, but BMI said we could go ahead and furnished us with tickets and passes for the flight which were about 4-5 sectors per day. On a flight from Birmingham to Brussels the Captain asked to be relived after boarding, as he had witnessed a Bear walking over the apron, and did not think he should be flying with those sort of apparition's !! On the return sector he thought it would be a good stunt for the Bear to emerge from the cockpit post take off, so I was in the cockpit for take off and landing. Also the Copilots wife was due a baby, and he asked if we could take some duty free perfume in for him, and the Captain asked for us to bring some Beer in, which was sold on the ramp by the ground staff. The night was misty as it was November, and we only just got into Birmingham before it was closed. Indeed our ATP flight the following morning from Birmingham to Heathrow was canceled, and we went by Bus. I have a picture of me physically picking up some cabin crew in said Bear suite on an East Midlands to Amsterdam route, which I will try and find and post when I am back home.

We now move to late 80,s and Mr Mac,s "air force", where I hired two DC8 to fly some urgent cargo from Houston to Stanstead for my US based company. I was in Houston coordinating this with K&N and got the option of flying back with my "air force" or Delta via Gatwick. I chose "my Air Force" and had a great trip on the FD from pushback to unloading, a great crew , with some colorful Vietnam tales as all were ex military !

I was then going out with an SAS stewardess and got some jump seat trips on a Friday from Manchester to Copenhagen on a DC9. My last FD trip was into Kai Tak with CX as an old friend was the pilot.

Since then the nearest I have had is doing bush flying in Africa in Cessna Caravans, which has been most enjoyable, but not in the same league as previous experience's, and then 911 happened and the world changed for the worse.

Kind regards
Mr Mac

PAXboy 27th Jun 2022 17:57

That's a great collection Mr Mac

Talking of Dad's, one daylight that I had on VS from CPT-LHR, I decided to spend money on the Satphone service and it worked very well. I called my father when crossing the Sahara. I reminded him about his experiences of navigating from England to Cairo in WWII, when their map only gave 'Camel Track First Grade' and 'Camel Track Second Grade' as routes to follow. Looking out for camel tracks was not easy as the sand does tend to move ...! But they got there. He was so thrilled to think of me comfy in the cruise, being able to phone him in his retirement.

Mr Mac 27th Jun 2022 20:52

Paxboy
Comes from getting old, and being lucky with my parents, and indeed my dads jobs, and also my own career. The satphone,s we’re definitely amusing, and I did the same as you on an EK 330 out of Manchester to DXB some where over the Black Sea in early 2000,s.. Interestingly I can never remember using one for work purposes , which I am sure was there selling point when introduced.

I will find the BMI photo when home, and I will post it on this thread as the CC may still be around or remembered, you never know.

Cheers
Mr Mac

Flugzeug A 28th Jun 2022 20:42

Delighted to have started a thread that’s sparked some great recollections , here’s a wee bit more.
In the 60s , my dad was promoted & we moved to Bermuda , then Nigeria.
Like Paxboy , I was a member of BOAC’s junior jet club.
My book has long since been lost but I think I remember dad pointing out that we’d travelled on G-ASGN , the VC10 later destroyed at Dawson’s field.
My love of aviation was very much encouraged by my father , so flight deck visits were regular as a child- dad had to accompany his children when we did so!
On my last trip with my sister on the 747 ‘classic’ , I was on the jump seat at Heathrow as they started the aircraft but the last engine fired up wasn’t reading correctly on the gauge.
Grins all round & ‘looks like we aren’t going anywhere...’ from Captain & 1st Officer , until the Engineer leaned over my shoulder , tapped the gauge & the needle sprang to into line with the others!
I have been on the flight deck into San Francisco , Bangkok, Montreal , JFK , and of course, Heathrow lots of times.
Most memorable return to Heathrow was on a beautifully clear night , I don’t know the routing to the runway but we came in over the city & the city airport.
Captain said he’d never seen it so clear.
It was a trip with a relief crew & their captain appeared to give a ‘You know where we are if needed’ as we did the approach , then added ‘Aren’t these simulators great?!’ , as that’s exactly what the view looked like.
Another trip , we returned to LHR but then had to wait to cross the ‘active’
Not just us in the 747 , we had a great view of Concorde on a tug also crossing further down.
’We’re safe now , they aren’t gonna risk Corde’ said the FO!
On a personal note , as I’m here , a massive THANK YOU to any BA crew reading this.
You were always friendly , polite and made me welcome.
I continue to be grateful.

pax britanica 29th Jun 2022 15:52

Been lucky enough to have several pre 9-11 . Possibly best was Stockholm to Berlin-TEMPLEHOF , only pax on an LH f50 . Great trip great crew great view landing at Templehoff not long before it closed for good. Also LHR-Abu Dhabi on Gulf Air tristar . Captain ex BA , amused that Mrs PB worked for Speedbird London which they then called up to lie about having a problem with passenger with my surname , me having foolishly said she was the duty operator . Much appreciation , to , now I look back on it, the many crews who were kind enough to let me go along for part of the ride .

dukiematic 29th Jun 2022 16:22


Originally Posted by Flugzeug A (Post 11253145)
Delighted to have started a thread that’s sparked some great recollections , here’s a wee bit more.
In the 60s , my dad was promoted & we moved to Bermuda , then Nigeria.
Like Paxboy , I was a member of BOAC’s junior jet club.
My book has long since been lost but I think I remember dad pointing out that we’d travelled on G-ASGN , the VC10 later destroyed at Dawson’s field.
My love of aviation was very much encouraged by my father , so flight deck visits were regular as a child- dad had to accompany his children when we did so!
On my last trip with my sister on the 747 ‘classic’ , I was on the jump seat at Heathrow as they started the aircraft but the last engine fired up wasn’t reading correctly on the gauge.
Grins all round & ‘looks like we aren’t going anywhere...’ from Captain & 1st Officer , until the Engineer leaned over my shoulder , tapped the gauge & the needle sprang to into line with the others!
I have been on the flight deck into San Francisco , Bangkok, Montreal , JFK , and of course, Heathrow lots of times.
Most memorable return to Heathrow was on a beautifully clear night , I don’t know the routing to the runway but we came in over the city & the city airport.
Captain said he’d never seen it so clear.
It was a trip with a relief crew & their captain appeared to give a ‘You know where we are if needed’ as we did the approach , then added ‘Aren’t these simulators great?!’ , as that’s exactly what the view looked like.
Another trip , we returned to LHR but then had to wait to cross the ‘active’
Not just us in the 747 , we had a great view of Concorde on a tug also crossing further down.
’We’re safe now , they aren’t gonna risk Corde’ said the FO!
On a personal note , as I’m here , a massive THANK YOU to any BA crew reading this.
You were always friendly , polite and made me welcome.
I continue to be grateful.

I second that- the numerous BA crews I had the pleasure to meet were just so welcoming and put me at ease. My first ever was 757 to Helsinki and I can’t express just how wonderful they were

Hartington 29th Jun 2022 17:46

A couple more experiences -
747-100 out of JFK. Cabin crew come upstairs and say they can't shut door 1-L. Caption and FO start thumbing the manual meanwhile engineer heads downstairs. A few minutes later there was a VERY loud bang followed by the FE reappearing and saying "let's go".
Then there was a 757 Newcastle in to Heathrow. Beautiful, sunny evening until we started finals. We could see the tops of Canary Wharf and the City of London. but not a lot else. We entered the fog at about 800ft and suddenly - nothing. The crew just sat there (exaggeration for effect) and allowed autoland to do its' thing. Impressive.

roger,roger-roger 29th Jun 2022 18:34

in the early 1980 2 I used to take my sons to the cargo terminal at LHR on a Saturday so they could go in the cockpit of Pan Am's B747 Freighters ...( I worked for one of the airlines they handled ..)
pre all the security and no issues .. the crew were very nice to my sons and made them welcome and explained what all the gauges and levers were for ... although I'm not entirely sure their explanations were truthful. My sons couldn't believe that the crew had to climb up a ladder - and that it was pulled up after they were in the cockpit ..
My aviation career enabled ( and required ) me to spend many hours in the cockpit .. on B707F & DC-8F.
One of the most memorable is a flight to LUN via NBO and the sight of Mt Kilimanjaro through the cloud at sunrise ..
African skies through the cockpit window are always so unbelievably clear and at night the stars so near.
From FL 350 - you can almost see right across the continent - just magical.
I also had the opportunity to travel in the cockpit out of PER on the "new" B747-400 - how strange to see just 2 pilots and no F/E - and the view from the jump seat across WA is so amazing.
I then spent many many hours in the cockpit of A300 F ..and always nice to see sun rises and sun sets , ( the joys of cargo flights ) beautiful skies over many cities..
The thread triggered so many memories ..

25F 30th Jun 2022 01:53

I've only got one Junior Jet Club logbook left - I kept forgetting / losing them - and it only has a round trip on VC-10 to Rawalpindi / Islamabad. But the return trip was on G-ASGC, the aircraft at Duxford and the subsonic transatlantic record holder for some time.
Usually I would fly with my next-older brother; we would *always* ask for a visit to the flight deck. A lot of these flights were referred to by CC as "lollipop specials" (I think) as you'd have a *large* number of unaccompanied children going to/from school in the UK. On one occasion though we didn't have the usual numbers, so my brother and I were asked if we'd like to sit in first class? And would we like a bowl of cornflakes with sliced banana? Best airline food *ever*.
Another flight one of our cohort managed to blag CC into giving him a selection of miniatures "to give to his Dad". "Will you?" we asked. "Sure, apart from the Amaretto" he replied. He was, what, fourteen? Quite possibly less.
But finally I did the trip out without pesky older brother and having shown during my cockpit visit that I could sit quietly etc., was invited back for the landing in Rawalpindi. Strapped into the jumpseat with headphones on, the Captain indicated the emergency exit above our heads and said something like "if needed - open that, grab the rope, get out". On approach we had ATC say something that nobody understood. Baffled looks all round. I thought I might be able to interpret, being more used to the local accent, but no, I didn't get it either.

Mr Mac 30th Jun 2022 20:16

25f
We seem to have had the same experience too and from school, you with BOAC and me with BCAL. 🙂
I am an only child as my older brother died during child berth so I did all this on my own. A kind BCAL stewardess introduced me to Chivas Regal in the same way as your miniatures which I hated, so we tried Amaretto over Ice and G&T both of which I still enjoy. I was 15 at the time but probably looked a little older and the auntie no longer accompanied me after 13 I think. However by that time I could do that route and all the disembarkations in my sleep, indeed I often used to show fellow business passengers where to go. 🙂
Cheers
Mr Mac

25F 30th Jun 2022 23:37

Mr Mac - it was BA by the time I started flying unaccompanied. (I did fly BCal 707 to Kano in the early 70s, with family). I didn't partake of the miniatures myself, being happy with the legendary tuckbox. Of course my oldest brothers used to complain bitterly that they used to be *much* larger "in the old days". I still have one of the BA branded ones. I'd like to see a modern nutritional label on one of those: "Sugars: 2000% of Recommended Daily Intake". Other great freebies - packs of playing cards, and BA branded writing paper on which one would write a letter to a non-flying friend and in the address bit top-right put something like "Somewhere over the Gulf at 35,000 feet" just to rub it in.

Sneezy24 1st Jul 2022 08:51

Never actually been onto the flight deck, closest was LHR-BRU pre 9/11.
I had missed the BA flight due to horrendous queues for security, so was put on the SABENA flight. I think it was a 737. I was in business, front row, RHS, window seat with empty next to me, only about a dozen PAX in total.
Cockpit door was left open throughout the flight, but kept shutting, and opening again!!

I got a decent view when it was open!

I do have 14 hours in a PA28-140 (but then bought a house and couldn't afford to continue the flying)

Oh, and WAY to many hours on FlightSim (according to the missus!)

Cue the SABENA joke - Such A Bad Experience Never Again!

S.o.S. 1st Jul 2022 10:24

Hello Sneezy24 and welcome to the cabin, it looks as if you have been lurking in PPRuNe for a while.

Thank you everyone for all these stories, they are great and a happy diversion, please do remember some more.

25F 3rd Jul 2022 00:44

Okay, silly story from a lollipop special... nothing to do with aviation except it took place on a PIA 747, because the VC-10s had been retired.
My brother and I announced that we had psychic powers. He would lay out four playing cards, I would turn my back, one of the other "diplobrats" would point at one, my brother would tell me to turn round, I'd make a huge show of "guessing" which card had been pointed at, and then identify it.
Worked every time.
They couldn't work it out.
Eventually they forbade my brother from speaking to me, but by this time they were so engrossed with the cards that I was able to simply look over my shoulder during the pointing phase - and nobody noticed.
And after that one we said that we were exhausted, all this psychic stuff was hard work, and so on.

The trick was *very* simple. "Okay" or "Ready" - first card. "Turn round now" - third. "Yes, done" - second.

redsnail 3rd Jul 2022 09:46

I have had some cracking jumpseat rides before Sept 11. Kept me going many a times when staring at the volume of rubbish stuff I had to learn for the ATPL.
Now I sit in the flight deck whenever I am at work. The views never get old.


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