Tom Morton K2GO is a Navy fighter pilot turned airline captain turned global aviation mentor—and through it all, a relentless ham radio operator who always found time to get on the air and meet new friends. In Part II, Tom’s story widens from cockpit to command. He rises from top-of-class Navy aviator to instructor, then to carrier-qualified pilot and Landing Signal Officer, racking up nearly 200 carrier landings. His post-military career reads like a passport stamped across the globe: 707 captain in Cold War Berlin, widebody captain for American Airlines, and later a 777 and 787 instructor shaping the next generation of pilots from Dubai to Singapore to Seoul. Even in his 80s, he’s still flying jumpseat audits worldwide, quietly evaluating airline safety and standards. But the throughline isn’t aviation—it’s radio. From aeronautical mobile QSOs over the Pacific to remote contesting from Virginia while living in Uruguay or Panama, Tom has ridden every technological wave the hobby has produced. He’s an early believer in remote operation—not as a shortcut, but as a democratizer—giving small-station operators access to big iron and helping keep contesting alive. He’s equally passionate about CW Ops and youth involvement, seeing both as the lifeblood of the next generation. His philosophy is simple: start small, listen more than you call, and respect timing—the difference between frustration and flow. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio. DX Engineering continues to power the passion behind operators like Tom—supporting everyone from contesters to DXers with the gear and know-how that keeps signals moving around the world.
FYI: The use of "Cockpits" is a frowned on by many in aviation, in fact the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the FAA are leading the shift to Flight Deck. Professional Accuracy "Flight Deck" following NASA lead back in 2006.
Control, we must maintain control in the name of safety. Back when I used talked to a TWA pilot a few times a month as he headed overseas out of St Louis. He was a year from retirement wanting to finish out his career flying overseas. He was interesting and fun to chat with, and I never caused him to crash and burn, not once.
A Boeing 727 will always have a cockpit. 'Flight deck' is something you have you can actually walk into and move around in.
Boeing 707-720-727-737-747 mix-valve position indicators for air conditioning pack output temperature have 'chicken-head' control knobs and are marked on the panel as "Control Cabin" & "Passenger Cabin" The "Control Cabin" is the Cockpit. Individuals who announced their greetings to the public from the "Flight Deck" were generally weenies with Tom Cruise Ray-Bans on their belt and knock-off Rolex watches they bought online. And dumb as a box of rocks. I wore a $14 Timex. Not insecure. 73
I’ve got to tell my story, my long time buddy KØyly worked at TWA,, he worked at what now KC international ,,, I think MCI,,, anyway that was TWA’s maintenance facility before MCI became the main airport for KC.. HE used to say he could tune the HF gear to CB,, ( ouch ) and would talk those folks,,,, he said he would tell them he was in a 18 wheeler.. now I’m no expert , but that’s what he said a 747 had ??????????? 18 wheels good times in the olden time
"Cockpit", as many aviation descriptors, comes down to us through several centuries of nautical legacy. The cockpit of a boat is originally where the coxswain steered the small vessel. No one but a clueless dilettante would ever refer to the front or back end of an airplane directionally as anything other than "forward" & "aft". However, we don't go overboard, pardon the pun. No one ever refers to "athwart" or "athwartships" or even Port & Starboard. We did refer to the DC-3 power source as "Ship's Battery" on the checklist. The "Head" on a vessel harkens back to days of olde when the unlicensed crew, the Ratings, lived forward on the ship--the Forecastle (Fo'c'sl). When they had to do their business, they hung the appropriate end of their body over the Head or Bow and let it away. NOTAMs--Notices to Airmen--rest in peace. 73
A 747 does have 18 wheels. Trivia fact - runways have a rating for bearing weight and a 747 with half that many wheels would damage many runways, as planes got heavier they added more tires vs. repaving every airport. Re using the plane radio as a CB - Until recently and maybe still, have to check, Brazil used HF-AM for ATC. Most aviation HF radios have an AM mode for this reason and any other place you might go where ATC has ancient equipment.
Like K0IP I too had a ham buddy, Bob Sackett, former SAC B 52 pilot, who after leaving the USAF was a PIC with TWA. He most often flew the LA-London route. His callsign for much of the time he flew was W6TIO but he later got W6TWA as a vanity call. We were neighbors living in south Orange County CA and in addition to sharing our passion for DXing we were long distance runners who trained together for full marathons. Bob and I would often chat on 2 M simplex after he took off from LAX until he got out of range. He would then, other duties permitting, switch to HF on the ham bands using the on-board aircraft comms---Collins gear I believe. At times I would accompany him to LAX when he had some business to attend to on a day he was not flying (international pilots actually flew very few days of the month and had a lot of time off). On one such visit he noticed a 727 sitting on the tarmac and recognized it as a very famous TWA aircraft. It was the one which, in 1979, had experienced an uncontrollable yaw to the right at 34,000 feet. The aircraft, piloted by "Hoot" Gibson actually did a complete 360 degree roll before the PIC was able to get control of the malfunctioning aircraft. That 727 eventually returned to the line and continued to be flown by TWA. When we got in the cockpit Bob pulled a cover from the center of the yoke on the left seat side and inscribed beneath it was the date of the rollover incident as well as the pilot's name. Interesting bit of aviation trivia. Bob's W6TWA callsign is still active on QRZ though it has not been updated in many years. I wonder if he's still alive or is a SK--I'm 80 and Bob was at least 6 years older than I. BTW he was a heck of a long-distance runner and I owe the several 26 mile 385 yard marathons I completed to his pushing me on 70 miles per week training runs. As for our mutual DXing passion I had a 60 ft tower with a large triband yagi. Bob made do with a small yagi at very low elevation hidden in the trees in his backyard in an HOA/CC&R development. He worked every DX station I did. His operating skills and techniques were as good as his piloting skills.
GET OVER YOURSELF STEVE! THE FAs and FAA ARE NOT LEADING ANYTHING OF THE SORT! I KNOW THAT BECAUSE...I AM FAA!
The term "flight deck" emphasizes the sophisticated, collaborative, and highly automated environment of modern aircraft, moving away from the more visceral, mechanical connotation of "cockpit".
We proposed other descriptors for the pilot / copilot / navigator / flight engineer workspace on the C-141 Starlifter which we anticipated would be useful when a sufficient number of female aircrew arrived. Funny and sure to give offense in today's world. When I had missions with occasional stateside legs ( long route segments with very low navigator workload) I would sometimes "borrow" the two Collins HFs (which were not in use during these segments). 600 watts of SSB to a Collins 618-T tuner and probe antenna in the T-tail made for some memorable pileups.
I thought Aircraft Commander and Pilot were used on transports. But what do I know, I worked Minutemann II?
Flight Deck, Cockpit, Whatever. Luckily I retired in 2005 so DEI, etc had not struck the cockpit. Besides, when I made PAs, I simply said, "Good Evening, Capt Morton here. Welcome on board Flt xxx to destination, routing, WX, etc. I figured that when I introduced myself, pax could pretty much guess where I was. I flew with many female pilots, in the aircraft and trained many in the B757/767 simulators. The name of the front office never came up. This was from 1999 til 2022. Much ado about nothing...73, Tom Hope to C U in Dayton.
