Where does the term cockpit come from?
 

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?

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" />

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" />

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" />

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>

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!