Cockpit
Encyclopedia : C : CO : COC : Cockpit
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A cockpit was a pit used for cockfighting, where owners would pit fighting birds against each other for the purpose of gambling. In the 16th century, it was used to mean a place of entertainment or frenzied activity. William Shakespeare used the term in Henry V to specifically mean the area around the stage of a theater. In 1759, the English artist William Hogarth produced a satirical print called The Cockpit showing the enthusiasm of the gamblers during a cockfight. Belgium is sometimes known as the "Cockpit of Europe."
Cockpit also came to be used for any small enclosed area. On Royal Navy warships in the 17th and 18th century, the area where junior officers were stationed became known as the cockpit. This lead to the word being used to refer to the area towards the stern of a small decked vessel that houses the rudder controls. In the early days of airplanes, anywhere the pilot sat could be referred to as the cockpit. Cockpit as a term for the pilot's compartment in an aircraft first appeared in 1914 and from about 1935 cockpit also came to be used informally to refer to the driver's seat of a car, especially a high performance one.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains instrumentation and controls which enable the pilot to fly the aircraft. In most commercial aircraft, a door separates the cockpit from the passenger compartment(s). After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, measures have been taken by all major airlines to fortify the cockpit against unauthorized access by would-be hijackers. On an airliner, the cockpit is usually referred to as the "flight deck."
The CockPit may also refer to:
- The Cockpit, nickname of Williams-Brice Stadium, the football stadium at the University of South Carolina. Home of the Fighting Gamecocks.
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