Cockpit Videos

A friend sent me a link to these vidoes of a Virgin Atlantic 747 departing Heathrow and landing at San Francisco. These are among the best cockpit videos I have ever seen, and they really show how a crew can do things right. They do not trust to luck, and there is admirable redundancy in their preparation. They even tune the ADFs, even though the Flight Management System should navigate them all by itself. People have criticized me for this kind of behavior, saying that I am too busy in the cockpit, and wondering why I bother to tune the VOR when the FMS will take us there. But in aviation we should depend on preparation, not luck.

These guys know how to do things right. Enjoy!

Departure Part I

Departure Part II

Arrival Part I

Arrival Part II