Although one of the more uncomfortable ways to travel on an airliner, riding in the jumpseat is a fun privilege to have access to. My favorite jumpseat was always the MD80 or Super 80 when you flew American, which for me was 99% of the time. First, it had a lot of features that were direct descendents of the DC-3, which for any Ernest K. Gann fan, is THE airplane. Second, it was a non FADEC airplane, meaning you actually had to be quite deliberate with the throttles and monitor things like EPR on takeoff. What?!? Last, you could occupy yourself for hours just looking at the disparate cockpit equipment, including the world-famous magnetic compass (watch @ 3:22 on video), which was located behind the first officer’s head and could only be read correctly when seen from a mirror in front of the pilots! All of that said, it was an incredibly quiet ride up front and felt like a very solid airplane to fly. Sad that I may never get to…
Riding the jumpseat
