origin of the word cockpit (aircraft)?

Question

thanks for the answers so far, i think i have found another answer, with the early aircraft that were open to the elements, the pilot would be seated in what could be termed a sort of wicker/reed chair. This had the resemblance to a basket used for carrying chickens and cocks (france), hence the term 'sitting in the cockpit'.

Answer 1

The term is most likely related to the sailing term for the coxswain's station in a Royal Navy ship, and later the location of the ship's rudder controls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockpit

Answer 2

I don't know what it means, literally. I do know that the majority of aircraft terms are French. The French were just as active in pursuing flight as the Wright Brothers at that time. They had made some great strides by 1903. Therefore, names like cockpit, aileron, fuselage, are all French. The French were obviously quite different then, instead of the French we know now. Why the Wright Brother's terms, if they had any, never caught on, I don't know.

Answer 3

cockpit

1587, "a pit for fighting cocks." Used in nautical sense (1706) for midshipmen's compartment below decks; transferred to airplanes (1914) and to cars (1930s).

Answer 4

Interesting. Didn't know that. Fighting cocks? If Micheal Vick owned an airplane I wonder what he'd call his flight deck?

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockpit

Answer 6

Yes, it's from fighting cocks. It's where all the action happens.

Answer 7

because that's where the cocks sit WWII fighter pilots
no female pilots back then so they called it the **** pit