Very interesting to see that the old traditions still hold even post 9-11 and -natch- while still respecting all the inflight door-closed & sterile cockpit regs. It's of course great Company public relats to give interested pax a peek at the front office, esp. kids and um, of course the nice ladies. When flying one of those left seats real far aft, I always take a quick glance while boarding to see the Mfr. plate inside the doorseal that gives the a/cs SN and exact model #. Then I pass in quickly (I know what the FAs have to deal with at boarding time) and then later linger behind after the rest of the cattle deplane. If I see that the crew is not rushing, I'll try to drop a friendly remark; complimenting a greaser landing always works, (and I always try to guess who was landing by which gear they "felt" for the touchdown with. That works too.) And briefly ref'ing that type's performance or engining so they can see I'm not totally ignorant is helpful... And if they have time for a quick look-see and/or are inclined to chat a moment, I love it. Many 3- and 4-stripers have so indulged me and I always appreciate it A LOT. One can never know too much... I've been bumped up to First once or twice on near-empty flights and even (on a Swearingen Metro) given a headset to listen to comms. The other pax thought I was some kinda bigshot... heh!

There's payback to this sort of kindness for busy flight crews too - one time the lady in front of me was seated in the overwing exit row and the plug exit window had been reset by maint. just a leetle bit cockeyed, and it was sucking & hissing audibly at altitude. She was starting to freak out about this and on the point of kicking up a totally unnecessary fuss, so I leaned forward and gave her a long reassuring talk on why that was 100 percent harmless, there was NO way it could dislodge and suck her out, etc. Calmed her right down without crew involvement, and she didn't even take me up on my brave offer to switch seats. NO alarming any other self-loading cargo! ;-) Then on the way out I had a quick word with the 4-striper to tell him why he was maybe losing .1 lb/hr of press, so he could decide whether to write it up or not. Not really signif. for ops of course, just might prevent other worried groundhogs pestering the FAs (and scaring other pax) on that a/c in the future.

Also know where you're coming from on that pre-flight photo belief, Captain 7-6 Split-S! Do you think that common superstition comes from the well-known pic of Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen playing with his dog before his last mission? Superstition or not, I don't tempt fate. You're 100% right - take all the pics you want, just not of me!