Help me ID a plane based on an obscure detail?
Posted by _bangaroo@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 3 comments
This is the longest long shot ever but here we go:
One of the moments that cemented my love of aviation when I was a little kid was getting let into the cockpit to meet the pilots and having them show me a bunch of stuff up front. I got to do this a few times when I flew.
On one flight, the pilot let me press a button on the overhead while we were on the ground. In my memory, it was a relatively small push button and there was some small dial associated with it that had a round card inside that was divided into four quadrants, alternating black and white. When the button was pushed, it spun. I was so excited to get to do ANYTHING on the big plane. It was wild.
My entire life I've been wondering two things:
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What plane was this?
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Bonus points - what the hell did I press?
I kind of assumed the more time I spent around aviation the more likely it is I'd run across this button and indicator combo again but I've literally never seen one. What was it?
To help narrow the field, this would have been in the 90s, probably at Logan International, probably on a flight on US Airways (that's what my parents always flew.)
It's entirely possible my memory is faulty after years but this is one of the most distinct childhood memories I have and it's been nagging at me forever. Help!
Rusty-P@reddit
My first guess was that it was the Stall Warning unit in a Boeing 727, but that unit just has a round, black and white spinner that’s halved rather than quartered, and the test function is activated by a switch, rather than a button.
The unit that you’re describing sounds familiar to me, I just can’t place it immediately.
_bangaroo@reddit (OP)
you know what? that is 100% it. plane checks out, airline checks out, and we're talking about my memory when i was like 8-12 years old so there's no way it's totally right. that looks totally correct. holy shit!
anactualspacecadet@reddit
Probably cabin pressurization panel, specifically the rate limiter, thats what it sounds like to be. I have not flown a plane like that though, ours is just a knob, but this is what it sounds like to me.