Plane watching at our local airport turned into a tour of a just landed G450.
Posted by NJHVACguy87@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 64 comments
My Wife and I were on our way home from a local outing with my son who is 3 years old . We were driving past the county airport when we saw some aircraft pulling in and some taking off. We pulled in and sat and watched as a jet taxied in. We were sitting on a bench near the airfield. We then saw a man dressed in pilot form approach us and ask if we wanted to go onto the plane. I was like sure which one did you fly in?. He pointed to the G450 that we had just seen landing minutes earlier. We went aboard and him and his co-pilot and flight attendant as they gave us a tour of the plane. Really a cool experience that was totally unexpected. He was just so happy to see my son enjoying the moment. Something I'll never forgot.
SerowiWantsToInvest@reddit
That's so cool, that pilot is a great person.
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
I own a small 4 seat plane. One time I saw a father and son at my small airfield. They were just plane watching. Asked if they wanted to go for a ride.
Nothing warms my cold black heart more than a childs smile.
dj_vicious@reddit
You're a beautiful human being. I'm sure that father and son talk about it to this day.
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
Quit making me feel weird. Just wanted to share my fun hobby with someone that was clearly interested
Planesarecool456@reddit
What plane?
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
Cherokee 180 with Horton stol kit
Phil-X-603@reddit
Thanks for being a great person!
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
Most would disagree. But I love showing people the skies. Especially people that are interested.
Stranger1982@reddit
You can be a "bad" person and still have enough empathy to do some good, so their point stands.
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
Part of being a pilot is were a bit autistic.
Also, a bit of self deprecating humor. Taking a compliment just feels weird.
CodeMonkeyPhoto@reddit
That is so rare these days to get a chance to do stuff like this. Kudos.
Random-Cpl@reddit
Pilot looks pretty young.
Wikadood@reddit
Those cockpits are so small on gulfstream but neat how they do it
yaxgto@reddit
Hey, stupid not pilot question.... How do you get into the seat?
anthony_ski@reddit
they slide back
opteryx5@reddit
I was also curious if those furry white coverings came with the seat or if the crew simply put them on, but I looked it up and turns out they come with the seats! They look so comfortable.
AVaLR@reddit
Those are part of the seat cushion.
dj_vicious@reddit
I sat on one of those once (not a pilot obvi) and they are very comfy!
memostothefuture@reddit
I dare you to try a HondaJet.
Niilo821@reddit
Idk abt this but in some bigger planes you just climb on
wewd@reddit
J rails. Seats move back and to the side.
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
I love the gear pin bag over the thrust levers idea. It would be hard to screw that up.
Jazzlike_Climate4189@reddit
What are gear pins for exactly? And don’t say for the landing gear lol
Knot_a_porn_acct@reddit
For the landing gear… to not unlock itself & collapse during ground handling.
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
They lock the landing gear down by preventing them from going "over center" inadvertently. Think of a folding table like the one Undertaker used to slam Mankind through. Those legs when extended would have a sleeve that would cover the mechanism preventing those legs from collapsing. The pins do a similar function.
CorrectClock1660@reddit
What a special memory for your son!
Kitchen-Strike-805@reddit
They're brainwashing your child. Get out while you still can!!!!
IAteTwoPlanes@reddit
I’ve been brainwashed by my dad. Now a student glider pilot beginning his journey!
Kitchen-Strike-805@reddit
I brainwashed myself, soon to start on gliders :)
This is how Big Airplane sells planes. Slippery slope..
Theaspiringaviator@reddit
i was brainwashed years ago...
now im in high school with one dream...
Totally_Not_A_Bot_FR@reddit
Chase it, bro. Chase it and take that shit.
Dude10120@reddit
So is my brother. Not me yet tho
aviapaul@reddit
I work as a part-time tram driver. Whenever I see children being even remotely interested I offer them a peek into the cabin. Always love to see how excited they get. Of course a tram can’t compare with a Gulfstream but I do what I can lol
bem13@reddit
Hey, trams are still pretty cool. Thanks for being awesome!
Designer_Buy_1650@reddit
This picture is so emblematic of how outdated the overhead panel of the 737 is. How many toggle switches do you see? This is modern overhead panel, not something from the 1960s. Sorry, but it’s the truth
AVaLR@reddit
And what’s crazy is this isn’t even that modern…
nokiacrusher@reddit
You don't want to get too modern or it will require a subscription and have sudden mandatory updates and not work at all if you lose your internet connection for a second. Oh yeah and every update makes it work worse.
bem13@reddit
Damn, imagine having to check for updates every time as a part of cockpit preparation.
"Everything's ready, did you run the update check?"
"Not yet, one moment... Well, 5 Gigabytes of system updates just arrived Captain, looks like we'll be here another hour or so, want me to tell dispatch?"
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
Yea compared to the new touchscreen overheads they have now, theses look as old as a 737.
havoc1428@reddit
Yeah, but toggle switches are bad ass
Totally_Not_A_Bot_FR@reddit
This "modern" overhead panel can legally drink in the US
redditistheway@reddit
The Toy Story Squeeze Toy Alien in the middle adds a nice bit of whimsy to the cockpit…
refl8ct0r@reddit
anyone knows why the MCDU has 6 letter key across compared to the common 5 on Boeings and Airbus?
DOOM_INTENSIFIES@reddit
I'm like 120% positive that pilot once was on the same place as your kid. That's kinda how pilots are born.
Kevlaars@reddit
If you have an aviation obsessed kid, go find a small airport, there is often a picnic table near the gate. Don't go with any expectations, just go have a sandwich and watch the planes. Make it a regular thing. Be polite to everyone you meet and clean up after yourself.
Eventually, someone will notice you and invite you in, maybe it'll just be a hangar tour and pic of your kid in the left seat, maybe it'll be a ride.
Even if nobody from behind the fence ever acknowledges you are there (highly unlikely), plane spotting over sandwiches at the rickety airport picnic table will be the best kind of core memories for that kid.
Kotukunui@reddit
I’m glad the jet’s owners aren’t the type to say, “no visitors”. I could understand why, but it would be a shame not be able to share an experience with an interested youngster.
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
Its a fractional jet.
Kotukunui@reddit
I’m glad the jet’s corporate owners aren’t the type to have a corporate policy of “no visitors”. I could understand why, but it would be a shame not be able to share an experience with an interested youngster.
reesemccracken@reddit
How do you get into the seat?
Swimming_Way_7372@reddit
Most biz jets you have to do some shitty step over the pedestal. A few of them slide back pretty far and even fewer of them slide outboard to create a little gap.
Ok_Adhesiveness_4939@reddit
That's 75 times better than a G6, Ke$ha!
PounderMcgee@reddit
Personally I like the fusion cock pits from Collins aerospace more
fly_awayyy@reddit
Having the space between those 2 words really makes you read that differently lmao
fdwyersd@reddit
next airline pilot in training... I went a different direction but step mom's dad had a Grumman Tiger and let me fly it (don't tell) in cruise and I was hooked
pattern_altitude@reddit
Nothing wrong with that… not sure why you say “don’t tell.”
n8texas@reddit
Good ol” fractional guys.
Role-Business@reddit
Well, that was nice of them to offer a tour of the plane.
wstsidhome@reddit
Bet that boy will remember this, at least partially! I know some can remember earlier than others, but this had to be such a cool experience for all of yall 🤙
Spare-Transition-771@reddit
Wow modern avionics! And the boy really enjoyed it!!
Beneficial_Signal_67@reddit
Amazing. These are the moments that create future pilots!
ZweiGuy99@reddit
That's very cool. Mark today down as a W, OP.
potat0man69@reddit
Looks like flexjet, they’ve got some nicely kitted out Gulfstreams
YogurtclosetSouth991@reddit
I work operations at a small regional airport that gets tons of corporate/private jets. I have been doing it so long I remember when Learjets and G2's were special.
(We loved watching them take off. Would often ask for the Gulfstream departure. Huge noise, smoke pouring off them, just imagining some dude shoveling soft coal into the engines)
Now it's G650's, and 700's, Embraer, and Challenger 350's. I've been parking and ground handling them for plus 30 years. And I STILL love having a peak into the cockpit and having a chat with the crew.
UserNameAllTheSame@reddit
That’s how you plant the seed!