# Long-haul flights; how does the cockpit crew pass the time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907 "2016-01-22T21:06:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![core](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@core](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/core)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/41 "2016-03-25T21:54:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Huh, and here I thought this thread was bumped because of [today’s XKCD](http://xkcd.com/1660/). That guy has a rather strange sense of humor. If you’re going to draw a 737 and joke about the pilots falling asleep, try not to do it just days after a couple of (quite likely) fatigued pilots crash a 737-800 with 62 souls. Maybe tomorrow’s comic will be about Brussels? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/42 "2016-03-26T00:02:07Z")
> [@core](#): > > That guy has a rather strange sense of humor. If you’re going to draw a 737 and joke about the pilots falling asleep, try not to do it just days after a couple of (quite likely) fatigued pilots crash a 737-800 with 62 souls. Maybe tomorrow’s comic will be about Brussels? Do you have any idea how long ahead of their publication date comics are created? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/43 "2016-03-26T00:32:14Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Do you have any idea how long ahead of their publication date comics are created? Anywhere from an hour or two to a couple of weeks I would imagine. Since he self publishes on-line, a simple comic like that one is probably closer to the former. Also, since he self publishes, he can rearrange things with no notice. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/44 "2016-03-26T01:34:00Z")
So, no one else thought, “panicked dives to avoid Venus”? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/45 "2016-03-26T03:38:39Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I have it on good authority that pilots are not allowed to post to SD during flights. Or so I have been told. Unless, of course, some major in-flight problem develops and they Need Answer Fast! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/46 "2016-03-26T03:46:46Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Many folks get good at a Zen-like state of awareness of the task at hand and little else. Becoming One with the flight if not with everything. This sounds to me like a euphemistic way of saying Highway Hypnosis. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/47 "2016-03-27T11:12:04Z")
> [@core](#): > > That guy has a rather strange sense of humor. If you’re going to draw a 737 and joke about the pilots falling asleep, try not to do it just days after a couple of (quite likely) fatigued pilots crash a 737-800 with 62 souls. Maybe tomorrow’s comic will be about Brussels? Looks more like an Airbus to me. Obviously it’s really a generic airliner. Nowadays damn near everything in production has two underwing engines. ---
**Author:** ![core](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@core](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/core)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/48 "2016-03-27T12:41:14Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Looks more like an Airbus to me. Obviously it’s really a generic airliner. Nowadays damn near everything in production has two underwing engines. The text of what the pilot was supposedly saying did mention “Boeing”, that’s the only reason I narrowed it down to the 737. As far as I know there’s no other Boeing twin with underslung engines that looks like an impregnated guppy! Granted, in the comic the pilot supposedly wasn’t “sure” if it was a Boeing. But even half-asleep, I think he’d notice that his yoke was missing. By the way- (mentioned up-thread) Until I read that here, I never heard of an airline forbidding reading company/FAA materials in cruise. Those two guys that overflew MSP a few years back used the excuse that they were busy going over their bids, so obviously that was kosher with NWA at the time (R.I.P.). I think “something else” was going on in that cockpit, but that’s another matter. I guess newspapers are out at your airline too then? Seems FOs like newspapers. Not for reading, but for placing them against the windscreen. Can’t have that glare, you know. I guess the sun prevents them from sleeping! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/49 "2016-03-27T22:18:50Z")
> [@core](#): > > I guess newspapers are out at your airline too then? Seems FOs like newspapers. Not for reading, but for placing them against the windscreen. Can’t have that glare, you know. I guess the sun prevents them from sleeping! We have a laminated A4 card with take-off and go-around engine power settings on it that makes a good sunshield. The problem is that I’ve got a tinted visor that I can position in front of my windows to keep the sun of me, and FO Bloggs has a visor that they can position in front of their windows to keep the sun off them, but if the sun is coming through Bloggs’ windows into MY eyes then we need another solution; enter the laminated A4 card. Reading real newspapers has become unfashionable. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/50 "2016-03-28T10:18:10Z")
Great thread and a question I’ve wondered from time to time at 30,000 feet too. I figured the pilots weren’t up there playing _Fallout Shelter_ on an iPad or leafing their way slowly through some doorstop of a book, but even so - when flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, there’s 12 hours of water and pretty much nothing else so it’s interesting to know what they’re doing besides looking for amusing and/or rude shapes in the clouds 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/51 "2016-03-28T10:46:02Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Interesting (if unfortunate). The issue reminds me–and “unfunny” is operative here–of the 9/11 terrorists who used the wrong setting and transmitted their instructions to their victims to the ground unknowingly. > > Which channel did they inadvertently use? Missed this earlier. They probably had the VHF 1 button selected instead of the PA button. Result is that what they said was transmitted to the in use ATC frequency rather than the people in the back of the aeroplane. Sometimes a pilot does this when making their PA. Some pilots are anal about NOT saying their names in a PA just to avoid being identified if they broadcast to the world. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/52 "2016-03-28T15:38:25Z")
I can’t recall ever hearing anything but “This is your Captain speaking.” Somewhere there must be a collection of goofy PA’s from the flight deck… ETA: (Want to change the subject from 9/11 right quick.) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/53 "2016-03-28T16:42:53Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I can’t recall ever hearing anything but “This is your Captain speaking.” > > Somewhere there must be a collection of goofy PA’s from the flight deck… “This is your captain speaking; there is no cause for alarm. Thank you…” \ ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/54 "2016-03-28T16:52:37Z")
Well, search “goofy announcements pilot airliner” and [airliners.net](http://airliners.net) is there: [Airliners.net - Aviation Forums](http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/1052827/) They try to limit it to pilot announcements, not steward announcements, which is not what I’m looking for here… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/55 "2016-03-29T04:41:16Z")
Two I’ve heard of, but didn’t hear myself: “If you’re traveling with a small child, or a business associate who just acts like one, please help him with his breathing mask after you’ve secured your own.” “Aeronautical science has once again triumphed over irrational fear, and we have safely arrived at our destination.” ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/56 "2016-03-29T08:36:53Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I can’t recall ever hearing anything but “This is your Captain speaking.” > > Somewhere there must be a collection of goofy PA’s from the flight deck… > > ETA: (Want to change the subject from 9/11 right quick.) Depends on who you are and/or where you work. My company introduces the crew as part of the cabin crew PA but I also mention my name and my off-sider’s as part of the flight crew PA. I think most do this but I don’t get a chance to listen to many. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/57 "2016-03-29T15:05:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Two I’ve heard of, but didn’t hear myself: > > “If you’re traveling with a small child, or a business associate who just acts like one, please help him with his breathing mask after you’ve secured your own.” > > “Aeronautical science has once again triumphed over irrational fear, and we have safely arrived at our destination.” I heard on a WestJet flight: “Anyone caught smoking in-flight will be asked to leave the plane immediately.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/58 "2016-03-29T16:12:20Z")
Do pilots ever mingle with the civilians for chit chat? Seems harmless enough, but I’m sure enough bad scenarios can be surmised that airline policy comes down against it. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907/59 "2016-03-30T02:43:29Z")
Post-9-11, I think they’re encouraged (required?) to stay in the cockpit unless they have to use the bathroom. I’ve always enjoyed these aircraft maintenance jokes, too: [Funny.com](http://www.funny.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Funny.woa/wa/funny?fn=CEW6R) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-haul-flights-how-does-the-cockpit-crew-pass-the-time/743907.md?page=2)