This is your captain speaking - an interview with pilot Tomasz Smolicz

Those were the first words spoken to the passengers by the first officer, Captain Tomasz Smolicz, who was sitting at the controls of the Il-62, during one of the first flights from Warsaw to Chicago, 50 years ago.

That's right, I was the co-pilot in the crew of Capt. Damian Żuchowski. During the christening ceremony, which took place with great fanfare at the Olsztyn Castle, the plane was given the name "Nicolaus Copernicus". Soon afterwards, an entry in the commemorative book was made at the Copernicus Observatory in Frombork. On the occasion of the opening of the connection to Chicago, a large banquet was held at the Consulate.

In addition to the captain and the first officer, there had to be a flight engineer in the cockpit. In the 1970s and 1980s, basically all western aircraft had three-person crews. At LOT, we actually had a crew of five: two pilots, a mechanic, a navigator and a radio operator, who had to have a good command of English.

Where did LOT get its navigators?

They used to come from the Maritime School. For some graduates, however, the sea was their first choice. They would work at sea for up to three months without a break. Problems arose when they got married, because their wives had no desire to be grass widows. That’s why those new husbands moved to LOT Polish Airlines, where they returned home after a few days instead of a few months.

Coming back to the Il-62 planes, what did their introduction into usage look like?

Each of the planes had a test flight at the manufacturer's. The best our crew could hope for was the maiden flight. We had all previously undergone the training in the Soviet Union – both on a simulator and in a real plane.

Please tell me about the navigation systems that were used before the Omega radio navigation system.

Inertial navigation has been the best navigation system for many years now. When I started piloting the Il-62 planes, western aircraft had already been using this system for a long time. However, the Il-62 did not have it. It was surprising to me, since the Russians had already been flying into space, where they had to use the inertial system. Apparently, it didn't translate from space technology into aviation technology, and both the Il-62 and the Tu-154 did not have it. They had gyroscopic systems, which were much less accurate. Il planes still didn’t have inertial navigation when I stopped flying them in 1989.

Every flight to Chicago took a different route. And not only because of the refuelling location, but also because of weather conditions.

Corridors were established over the Atlantic twice a day, and we had to stay within them. The idea was to have the weakest headwinds when flying to America and the strongest tailwinds when flying to Europe. Winds in Europe are always from the northwest. However, I did enjoy flying to Chicago. I had friends there, mainly from skiing trips in Poland. We flew twice a week - we left on Monday and got back to Poland on Thursday. I used these three days for skiing in winter. I like this sport very much. I used to be a skiing instructor.

After the Il aircraft were withdrawn from LOT Polish Airlines, you piloted the Boeing 767. How would you compare these two planes?

Piloting was very similar, but in terms of electronics, there was at least a thirty-year difference between them. The Boeing already had an inertial navigation system and much better flight automation than the Ilyushin.

Transatlantic flights not only led to the development of the fleet, but also the on-board service. Did you have a favourite dish on the Chicago flights?

Already then, catering at LOT Polish Airlines was diverse. I didn't have a favourite dish, but at home people laughed at me that I was so used to eating from a tray on my lap that I didn't eat a family dinner at the table. I have never lost this habit.

Thank you for the interview!

Talked: Marta Radzikowska