Hacker News Reader

Comment by penguin_booze | Hacker News Reader

I always wondered: what would it take me to fly in the cockpit? I'm not a pilot, but I'm willing to be subjected to any amount of security/background check that'll let me witness the machine in action, end-to-end.

View on HN

I spent a good chunk of my early 20s commuting across the Atlantic. Before 9/11, all you had to do was ask a flight attendant and they'd go check with the pilots and bring you up a short while later. I used to do it most flights overnight from New York, it broke up the journey which was otherwise pretty miserable in coach. I remember the pilots being delighted to have me up there, really for them it's as boring as it is for us in the back I was someone new to talk to for a bit. I remember one time some Virgin Atlantic pilots were more excited about my colorful socks than I was about their new glass cockpit 747-400.

I was never turned down and always felt very welcome. At most I had to wait a bit until some turbulence passed.

It's sad that has gone and won't ever come back. I have kids now and they'd get a _huge_ kick out of an experience like that.

EDIT: you can however still pay for some hours in an airline training simulator. It's astonishingly close to the real thing and might scratch that itch for you. Some airlines offer it, other training companies do.

I only flew once before 9/11, I think I was already 12 or 13, and I don't think my mother even asked for me to go check out the cockpit – the crew asked if I wanted to see it before she had the chance. It was pretty neat.

These days, the scenes in Airplane! where passengers walk in and out of the cockpit are almost part of the joke.

Applies to the US (and maybe other countries, I don’t know) but I can’t overemphasize how much flight capacity the us military has.

We got incredible access to military jets in USAF ROTC (Air Force officer training in college) even before we got our commissions or had a security clearance. To get on base and the airfield there was a mild background check, but we were essentially civilians in fatigues that had been vouched for by our detachment’s Lt Col. Getting to literally run around the empty deck of a KC135 then pop into the cockpit and (under extremely careful supervision) operate some of the plane’s controls was a surreal experience. I didn’t make pilot and so did’t ever have the chance to fly in the training slot of the two-seater F15 (my dream), but I did get the opportunity to at least put my hands on the controls of several other USAF planes in-fight including a few jets.

You don’t have to be in ROTC. Getting a ride-along in a military jet as a civilian is not as easy as showing up and asking for a rode, but also not impossible. The military has the cash to put up planes for non commercial reasons and they consider these publicity flights a powerful public relations tool. Every Air Force base has a PR department that is always looking for positive stories. If you can come up with something that would lead to positive PR for the Air Force, they will totally let you ride along on a training run. I met a guy on a C-130 who was doing a ride along because his IT firm had a program where Air Force vets got some special consideration when they applied.

It’ll never happen on an airliner. Even most private jet charters no longer allow pax up front after a business jet crashed in Colorado. Turned out the customer was running late and rushed the pilots in poor weather conditions.

If you want to see the cockpit, I’ve gotten permission to enter twice while the pilots were on the ground waiting for passengers to board. Beyond that you can also take an intro flight lesson at your local school.

You need to work for an airline and have an airside pass. Generally only other pilots (on or off duty) or cabin crew (on duty) are allowed onto the flight deck. They generally don't want strangers on the flight deck because of security and they would not be trained in the emergency procedures.

Even people flying jump are usually outside the flightdeck sitting in the uncomfortable seats in the galley.

Time machine.

In the 70s if you were under 10 and crossing the Atlantic, the co-pilot would proactively invite you to the cockpit, show you everything, then give you a model toy plane and a lapel pin.

Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?

We're all counting on you

You need very good contacts inside an airline. Personal contacts with captain and the like. Sometimes you still can get jump seat flights (a rather uncomfortable seat used for ferrying extra crew) in the cockpit.

I very much hope that is not the case. As a passenger I would not be very happy seeing pilot's friends going in and out of cockpit during the flight.

Pre-2001, it wasn't unusual for children to be shown into the cockpit during the flight. (Although, prices were higher back then, so it was less common for children to fly anyway.)

I saw the cockpit of an American Airlines plane when I was about 11 years old, and disappointed the captain when I was confused by his American humour.

It's still allowed, the passenger gets a temporary airline ID to wear around their neck so passengers don't get confused. And typically you close the forward galley curtain before opening the door, same as for crew entering and leaving the cockpit for in flight rest etc.

Edit: I'm in Europe, not sure how American airlines handle it.

This is the relevant FARs section:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/121.547

Not in flight, but you can ask to come in after. Depending on airline you get to seat the captain chair (Air NZ pilot suggested themselves, Air India pilot had a mortified face when I asked).

But yeah you won’t get a real experience… i always wondered why they don’t put front windows in double decker first class cabin.

If you don’t care which cockpit, you could always take an intro flying lesson.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com