THE world’s most experienced 747 jumbo jet pilot is preparing to hang up his wings after more than 40 years of breathtaking views, famous passengers and a flight to Glasgow that almost ended in disaster.
His father and and uncle were pilots so aviation was in the blood – but Nick Eades hated his first flight in 1974 so much that it was five years before he got back in the cockpit.
He decided to give flying another go after completing an economic degree and says he “fell in love with it” but found himself without the funds for an accredited course.
“In those days you either went into the RAF or trained with the airlines and they would select the best of the best and train them up,” said the pilot, whose grandfather worked in the Glasgow shipyards.
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“I literally did everything myself. I borrowed books, borrowed aeroplanes and did all the studies at home and then turned up for tests.”
After getting his licence and working in business jets for a number of years he was accepted by British Airways, in the early 1980s, as a direct entry pilot (DEP).
“British Airways had never taken any pilot on unless they were from the RAF or trained by the airline from day one,” says the pilot.
“There was quite a bit of stigma about being a DEP, we were treated very poorly.
“You can’t do that anymore, they changed the rules and you have to do it with a school, which can cost up to £150,00. It’s a very narrow route now.”
British Airway has operated the 747 longer than any other airline (they were retired in 2020) and the pilot started flying them in 1987.
“It was a different world,” said Mr Eades who lives in West Sussex and is married with two grown-up sons, who have not followed his career path, going into acting and film making instead.
“Things were much more relaxed, it was the last of the halcyon days of flying and much less regulated.
"We used to go the airport and go straight out to the aeroplane. Now we have to go through security. The navigation tools we had were very basic, they hadn’t changed much since the 1950s but the aeroplane I fly now – the triple 7 – it’s all run by computers.
“Of course it’s safer now. We have systems that warn us about aircraft around us, which we didn’t used to," he added.
“The jumbo was the last of the aeroplanes where the pilot is in complete control, whereas now, if you say to an airbus I want to climb and go left and the airbus says no – it won’t let you do it.
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“A lot of pilots today get to 200ft and the autopilot goes on. Technology can be too advanced and so that can erode pilots’ skills.”
He says it would be easier to name the celebrities he hasn’t flown around the world, listing the Beckhams (“Victoria has such poor press and she’s lovely) and former UK Prime Minister John Major.
Actor Roger Moore helped the airline raise cash for a children’s charity after delivering a personal message to passengers through the aircraft’s tannoy.
“He took over the PA and said ‘My name’s Bond, James Bond – I’ll be coming through the aircraft and I’ve got a licence to kill.’ I don’t think we have ever collected so much money.”
He recalls a hair-raising flight, earlier in his career, from Stornoway to the south coast of England in a two-seater plane.
“It was New Year’s Eve and it was flying beautifully until it started to get dark and we realised we couldn’t see any of the instrument lights.
"We landed in Glasgow, more or less with a dark cockpit. We had torches and rushed into the airport to buy batteries but couldn’t find any, all the shops were closed. We found a policeman, and only a Glaswegian policeman could do this.
“He said ‘come with me Sir’. There was a police office in the terminal and he handed us a torch. So this lovely policeman saved the flightus and we shone his torch all the way to London.”
He grins: “Every take-off I do, I always look at the face of the co-pilot and without fail after 40 years as he pushes the power levers forward to make the aeroplane go faster, everybody smiles and the smiles get bigger.”
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He said BA had had “a lot of negative press” but their safety record is second to none. He is still on furlough and plans to retire next year.
“The dear old jumbo has looked after me beautifully for the last 34 years. Ive’ never wanted to fly anything else. I did think about moving on to Concorde and then very sadly Paris retired it.
“I’ve been flying for a long time and I’ve loved it. Every day is different and every single day you learn something.
“Taking off from Islamabad and climbing up out of the Kyber pass and you can see K2 and the Himalayas and the views are just stunning. You never get bored.”
The Self-Improver: A riveting Autobiography of the Life and Career of the World’s Most Experienced 747 Jumbo Pilot, by Nick Eades is out now.
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