Tapes on a plane

A look at an aircraft BGM & Announcement player and the Emergency Announcements contained on the tape.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:45 Exterior & Tapes
01:53 Tape Heads
03:35 Machine Interior
04:51 Tape Interiors
07:24 Dubbing the tapes
10:07 HEAR THE ANNOUNCEMENTS
14:04 Summary
14:55 How to buy your own
15:27 Patreon Credits

FAQ:
Q) Can I upload a full copy of the background music audio somewhere?

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[MrMhp]

Years ago I worked for Qantas Airways and we had this system on the 747 aircraft, I would have recorded and loaded hundreds of those cartridges. The BGM (boarding music) tapes were recorded as 4 separate mono programs on a 4 track master which was then transferred to lubricated tape which we spooled on to 10.5" reels and then recorded on Akai 400GS 4 track, quarter inch machines. The tape was then wound off on to the aircraft cartridge spool by hand, using a "vinyl record" turntable and an adapter we manufactured ourselves. The announcement tapes were mastered in 2 lots of 4 tracks on the Akai 400GS and then we transferred the recordings in two passes, to an 8 track Fostex 1/4 tape recorder which we modified to run at 3.75 inches per second rather than the original 7.5 inches per second, then hand loaded the tapes the same way as the BGM tapes. If I remember correctly we had 14 different languages as well as the English emergency safety announcements. the crew had to change the cartridge to suit the flight. I enjoyed your video it brought back many memories.

[sebkro]

8:16 "Unfortunately that something is supposed to be a Boeing 757. And I dont't have one." :D

[williamyeong]

Thanks, finally I have something to listen to in my newly acquired 757.

[novelezra]

"There is no cause for alarm" is the most alarming thing it could say.

[SebastianJVW]

That little "pling" of the latch closing really is a most satisfying sound. I'd probably just be sat there playing with it over and over.

[dustysparks]

The in-flight instructions on these tapes are now basically a modern technology Rosetta Stone, as they are basically the same instructions but in 10+ languages. For those studying a given language, these would make an interesting exercise.

[neonsashimidream]

Oh my God. That announcement is terrifying. I was once in an airplane that had to make an emergency landing because one of the engines caught fire (we weren't told this while we were in the air, simply that one engine was not functioning). Thankfully, this happened almost immediately after take-off and we weren't halfway across the Atlantic. However, the plane had been fueled for a trans-Atlantic flight and so we had to circle for an hour to burn off the fuel since the plane was too heavy for a safe landing on one engine. The captain made the announcement personally and I'll never forget the almost imperceptible quiver in his voice. That ever-so-slight indication of fear in the captain's voice was what got me the most. We had to learn the "brace for impact" position and the whole thing was absolutely terrifying. Families were quietly hugging each other and whispering and there was a deathly silence over the cabin. The pilots and flight attendants did an amazing job and thankfully we landed without major issue. The landing was at such high speed though, that it was downright terrifying. Even with the brace for impact position, my head still ended up smashing against the seat in front of me pretty hard. And it was pretty shocking to see all of the lights from emergency vehicles on the runway waiting for us. After we came to a complete stop, the passengers erupted in cheers for the pilots. I hope to never experience anything like that ever again.

[Boomercore]

Imagine how absolutely chuffed the designers of this box would be to find a relatively glowing review on Youtube, decades later.

[asteroidrules]

The interior of that announcement cartridge was quite the sight. You can tell just by looking at it that the engineer who designed it specialized in aerospace rather than consumer electronics.

[UnholyTriforceDelenn]

Honestly, I find the long form videos with the history, context, media and the tech exposition all together to be preferable than two separate parts, each dedicated to a specific demographic. I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that we come for the whole story, and that's why we're Moanies, if I may use the term.

[oursique]

If you open a kickstarter to make a disaster film with the puppets, I'll put $100 on it.

[BLUE_OCTOBER-TRIX]

8:02 wow I actually like that background music it’s really cool ambient sounding

[nrdesign]

That is the cutest latch I've ever heard

[ReyMysterioX]

I really prefer this format over the two separate videos. I really don't get it why you would come to this channel when you don't want to get the full story. I mean, that is the heart of Techmoan.

[CEOofNano]

Techmoan using the TechMuppet to help give context for which the cartridges would be used is probably my favorite thing in this video

[adeleloffler]

I'm from Switzerland (the French speaking part) and I'm truly amazed that they featured Swiss German on these tapes!

[travismpeterson]

Actually worked for one of the last companies that created updates to the audio on those. The company was AEI/DMX Music and its main business was background music for retail establishments. Our company did all types of duplication for the airlines. What memories.

[StevenIngram]

It never ceases to amaze me the clever trickery you come up with to get audio from weird formats. LOL That 8-track trick was slick. :)

[ahcnp]

that BGM from the endless loop is Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ

[CircsC]

I strongly prefer your traditional long form videos like this tbh.