What's fun to do as PAX on a commercial flight?

wsuffa said:
Kick the seat in front of you
Recline as far as you can
Goto the lav every 10 minutes
Use the phrase "don't you know who I am" several times when demanding service
Pull on the seat back every time you get up
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
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When did this become an issue? :confused: I had some old ******* ***** at me on a flight and start a fuss with the flight attendant because I reclined my seat. She even had the nerve to ask me to put my seat upright. I told her I most certainly wouldn't. If I wanted to buy a seat that didn't recline, I would fly Spirit.
 
GPS built into the iPad is likely to crap out by the time you get to cruise altitude and speed. It's mostly due to the speed of the airplane. Consumer grade GPS sensors can't keep up. There are small add on GPS sensors that are the size of a postage stamp (eg BadElf) that have WAAS and are certified to work at much faster speeds (up to 800 MPH or so).

In a side note GPS for very fast (e.g. >1000 MPH) requires special equipment not normally available to the general public. Thats the sort of tech used in guided missiles so there's good reason. Friends fhat work in rocketry tell me about all the paperwork they do to get permission for the high speed GPS.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
My wife likes to read:

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My dad read 35 Miles From Shore when flying to St. Maarten. Hint: It's about ALM980 which crashed while flying to St. Maarten... (Side note: I recommend reading it. And it was written by my final private instructor.)

I worked on an accident investigation project for school while flying FFT to Denver. That consisted of watching several videos and looking at lots of pictures of plane crashes on my laptop. I was asked a couple times to not do it...
 
rocketflyer84 said:
GPS built into the iPad is likely to crap out by the time you get to cruise altitude and speed. It's mostly due to the speed of the airplane. Consumer grade GPS sensors can't keep up. There are small add on GPS sensors that are the size of a postage stamp (eg BadElf) that have WAAS and are certified to work at much faster speeds (up to 800 MPH or so).

In a side note GPS for very fast (e.g. >1000 MPH) requires special equipment not normally available to the general public. Thats the sort of tech used in guided missiles so there's good reason. Friends fhat work in rocketry tell me about all the paperwork they do to get permission for the high speed GPS.
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Yeah, the speed thing is not an issue of the technology quality difference, it's about artificially limiting the consumer grade technology against weapons use. Attaining the 'y-code' off the satellite for accuracy is a difference in technology, but for all intents and purposes, WAAS and DGPS made this irrelevant.
 
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I like to look up the flight plan on flightaware and then follow along with foreflight. Never had a problem in the window seat with keeping a GPS signal. With synthetic vision its pretty cool to see the landing on the screen and then follow the blue plane taxiing to the gate.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
rocketflyer84 said:
GPS built into the iPad is likely to crap out by the time you get to cruise altitude and speed. It's mostly due to the speed of the airplane. Consumer grade GPS sensors can't keep up.
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I've looked at my iPad when flying in a jet. The groundspeed is usually right on.
 
I like to practice an ancient and almost forgotten form of communication. Many have not heard of it, it's called speech. If the person next to you is willing to engage in speech with you, it can sure be fun and help pass the time.
 
OkieFlyer said:
I like to practice an ancient and almost forgotten form of communication. Many have not heard of it, it's called speech. If the person next to you is willing to engage in speech with you, it can sure be fun and help pass the time.
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Or a nightmare.:eek:
 
JeffDG said:
I like to fire up X-Plane on the iPad, particularly on United when they have ATC in the headphones.

Fly along in the 737 and when you hear "United 1234 turn left 250", wait a second, nudge the guys sitting next to you and begin a left bank...
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:rofl: Sounds like something I would do!
 
I like to sleep. If I'm not sleeping, I'm eating cheese. I've found if you follow along on the safety brief with the hand motions of the flight attendants they think it's pretty funny and bring you free things.
 
I always bring NTSB Reporter with me and read about plane crashes.

We were on approach to DFW during thunderstorms a few years back and we it was the wildest ride I'd ever had. The woman behind us is freaking out. We get a big down draft and I throw my arms up and cry "WHEEE.!!!!!!!!!!" My wife slugs me and says I can't go WHEE when people are freaking out.
 
wsuffa said:
Kick the seat in front of you
Recline as far as you can
Goto the lav every 10 minutes
Use the phrase "don't you know who I am" several times when demanding service
Pull on the seat back every time you get up
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
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Don't forget to flip the switch on the tray table and let it bonk down and bounce. And when you stow it, be sure to slam it up there good and hard.
 
wsuffa said:
Kick the seat in front of you
Recline as far as you can
Goto the lav every 10 minutes
Use the phrase "don't you know who I am" several times when demanding service
Pull on the seat back every time you get up
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
:rofl::rofl::rofl:
Click to expand...

OH, and also, yeah, why not eat that big egg, bean, and chorizo breakfast burrito and then beef your whole way to the destination. Just LOVE that.
 
rocketflyer84 said:
GPS built into the iPad is likely to crap out by the time you get to cruise altitude and speed. It's mostly due to the speed of the airplane. Consumer grade GPS sensors can't keep up. There are small add on GPS sensors that are the size of a postage stamp (eg BadElf) that have WAAS and are certified to work at much faster speeds (up to 800 MPH or so).



In a side note GPS for very fast (e.g. >1000 MPH) requires special equipment not normally available to the general public. Thats the sort of tech used in guided missiles so there's good reason. Friends fhat work in rocketry tell me about all the paperwork they do to get permission for the high speed GPS.
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Mine works in the F-15 at over 45k' and have had it work over M1.1 no additional sensor required, internal GPS only.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
EvilEagle said:
Mine works in the F-15 at over 45k' and have had it work over M1.1 no additional sensor required, internal GPS only.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I heard that the whole speed restricted GPS firmware was done away with because it was so simple to get around. :dunno:
 
Henning said:
Or a nightmare.:eek:
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True, but more often than not, I've been able to strike up good conversation. Success rate is exponentially higher with older people. If you try to talk to the younger ones, they seem to think you are some kind of a psycho. Young'uns only like to communicate with their thumbs.

Maybe I'm the nightmare.
 
Bill Jennings said:
OH, and also, yeah, why not eat that big egg, bean, and chorizo breakfast burrito and then beef your whole way to the destination. Just LOVE that.
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LOL.

Or eat the Skyline 5-way just before boarding.
Or spend the evening at the Stinking Rose in San Francisco before a long transcon flight....
Or bring take-aboard kim chee since the airlines don't serve food any more
Or eat a durian fruit...

Always crowd pleasers....
:D
 
Do commercial pilot's flying for large airlines let anyone in the cockpit anymore? (not during flight but during boarding) ?
 
After having one too many screwdrivers before getting on the plane. It was with Allegiant(so seats are a free for all), so naturally the only ones left were back by the engines. I guess a lot of people plan on making a long *** walk to the back to pee 12 times.:dunno: My friend looks back at me while we are walking down the aisle and says, "Where should we sit?" To which I, without thinking, shout out, "Just go to the back, that's where all the survivors are gonna be anyways"

Everyone busted out laughing except two ladies who had never flown before.

Lady who found me somewhat humorous asked why it was safer in the back.

"Think about it, an airplane goes forward, the front will absorb most of the impact...It's common sense lady"

When I'm not doing immature stuff like that I try to hit on the cute girl sitting next to me.
 
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I got a signal on my BadElf gps the one time I tried it. Could have been interesting tracking the flight, I just didn't care to.

I like the idea of reading the book "Why pilots die". I'm sure there's a whole host of things to read, maybe download a bunch of YouTube clips of plane crashes. That'll teach them not to look over my shoulder at my screen };-J>

Flight simulator and fly along could be interesting, but probably just boring.

I'll go back with sleep.
 
A: Take up singing. Put your hoodie up, and start wailing out a 50s doowap: "Bom-ba-bombom, bom-ba-ba-bom" should work well.

B: Let your beard grow, make your eyes as big as you possibly can, and greet everyone from the gate agent, fellow passengers, FAs, and most certainly all TSA people with; "ALLAH AKBAR!" in a loud, but indoor voice. While in flight, get out your shawl, and kneel in the aisle and begin the Salat(muslim prayer) a couple times per hour.
 
Rolling out a prayer mat in the aisle and praying to Mecca could be fun.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
Lady who found me somewhat humorous asked why it was safer in the back.

"Think about it, an airplane goes forward, the front will absorb most of the impact...It's common sense lady"
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Well, unless you're in an Asiana 777 stalling at San Francisco.

All three fatalities were in the back.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
It was with Allegiant
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I flew them a couple times, they love to save fuel. I swear once they started to descend they chop the throttles to idle and never add any additional thrust. *wham*

I know the 727 lands hard, but these guys smacked that plane down hard, every time.

Oh, and they wanted to charge us extra at the counter for us (wife, daughter, and I) to sit together. So I said with a smile "Cool, someone else gets to watch our 4 yr old for us". They gave us the seats.
 
docmirror said:
A: Take up singing. Put your hoodie up, and start wailing out a 50s doowap: "Bom-ba-bombom, bom-ba-ba-bom" should work well.
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Yeah, I've lived through this one. We were on a flight from MIA to EWY one weekend and these two women get on. They'd already started their Key West weekend early as they were trashed. They both had iPods and were singing along off key with whatever was on there. When we got to EYW they forgot that they had boarded through the rear door (this was an ATR42) and were fighting their way to the front of the plane against the flow of passengers trying to move to the back to get off.
B: Let your beard grow, make your eyes as big as you possibly can, and greet everyone from the gate agent, fellow passengers, FAs, and most certainly all TSA people with; "ALLAH AKBAR!" in a loud, but indoor voice. While in flight, get out your shawl, and kneel in the aisle and begin the Salat(muslim prayer) a couple times per hour.
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You can leave this running on your laptop:

http://thecleverest.com/countdown.swf
 
MAKG1 said:
Well, unless you're in an Asiana 777 stalling at San Francisco.

All three fatalities were in the back.
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I was slightly intoxicated, my NTSB logic wasn't at it's peak.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Oh, and they wanted to charge us extra at the counter for us (wife, daughter, and I) to sit together. So I said with a smile "Cool, someone else gets to watch our 4 yr old for us". They gave us the seats.
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Yeah they nickel and dime you. But 4 nights stay at the Planet Hollywood, airfare for 6 guys, for $250 a person? I'll sit next to the engines and Mr. T...no problem
 
Everskyward said:
I listen to podcasts or audiobooks which I have previously downloaded... until I fall asleep. Sometimes that happens before takeoff.
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But Mari, we're talking about commercial flying... not what happens at your charter job :lol: ;) :lol:
 
docmirror said:
B: Let your beard grow, make your eyes as big as you possibly can, and greet everyone from the gate agent, fellow passengers, FAs, and most certainly all TSA people with; "ALLAH AKBAR!" in a loud, but indoor voice. While in flight, get out your shawl, and kneel in the aisle and begin the Salat(muslim prayer) a couple times per hour.
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Sounds like you came across this passenger

 
AggieMike88 said:
But Mari, we're talking about commercial flying... not what happens at your charter job :lol: ;) :lol:
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I make sure I lean towards the window so the passengers have a harder time seeing what I am doing. :D
 
True story: I was flying out of LGA years ago and I was reading "The making of the Atomic Bomb"(which is a fascinating book BTW) for inflight entertainment. The two typical Brooklyn ladies sitting next to me were literally all made up, big hair, smacking gum and wearing way too much fake jewelry. One asked me about the book I was reading as if I were planing to actually sit there and "make" an atomic bomb! I think she said " exxx-cuuuse me, ah you plannink to make that atomic thingee?" in Brooklyneese. We had a good laugh for second and passed a very enjoyable trip going to somewhere way south, maybe ATL. We even exchanged phone numbers because they said they were going to a Cowboy game later in the year and we would 'do lunch or sumpthink'. It was a hoot.
 
Back in the days of TWA or Braniff, I was flying from KC to somewhere east, and sat with 2 ladies that must have been in their 60's. The turbulence was terrible - this was the flight where I had my cup of ice and Sprite in front of me, holding onto it so it wouldn't fly away. We dropped, and the entire contents of my cup levitated up about 6", still holding the perfect shape of the cup, then set back into it and didn't spill a drop. It was the coolest.thing.ever. The rest of the flight the ladies figured we were all going to die, so they tried to 'save' me for the next couple of hours.
 
Get noise cancelling headsets, I have the kind that plug into the seat, and watch movies until you fall asleep.

On short flights I have Avare on my tablet and can follow along on our flight if I have a window seat.
 
bflynn said:
I think United sometimes puts ATC on the headsets.

Otherwise I second the vote for sleeping.
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If they don't have DirectTV. If they do, forget it. If they don't, it's up to the pilot. Coming home from Singapore yesterday the pilot didn't enable it. Going to Singapore last weekend the pilot did. I still don't know how they can understand the controllers in Japan.

champ driver said:
Who can sleep on those torture racks they call seats.
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True.

docmirror said:
A: Take up singing. Put your hoodie up, and start wailing out a 50s doowap: "Bom-ba-bombom, bom-ba-ba-bom" should work well.

B: Let your beard grow, make your eyes as big as you possibly can, and greet everyone from the gate agent, fellow passengers, FAs, and most certainly all TSA people with; "ALLAH AKBAR!" in a loud, but indoor voice. While in flight, get out your shawl, and kneel in the aisle and begin the Salat(muslim prayer) a couple times per hour.
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Careful with that. I watched a guy get bounced off a flight for introducing himself to another passenger as "Dan Cooper". That was the last straw for the FA who threw him off the plane.

Fun on a commercial flight? Mutually exclusive. They are a high speed bus, nothing more. And you are self loading cargo.
 
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