CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

[Gunner]

Let me know when you feel like a visit, Sledge.  I know the Exhibits Coordinator rather well.   

I hope that invitation is open to me as well, Wildcat!
I'm just up the road in Phoenix, and it's been years since I've been to the museum. I need to come down anyway to get pics and measurements of the Thunderbird Phantom on display at the American Legion post in Vail.


I'm going to help with the skinning of a new 3D Phantom model we are going to use for a vintage show.

[maestro209]

Great Shots Maestro!

Do you have any other images you can share with us?

Valcor

Valcor,

Thanks! Umm more shots of the B-36 or of anything else at the museum? I have a couple more of the internal forward compartment / radio stack area just aft of the bombardier navagator station. I'll post my other photo's below. The gent in the cockpit photo, who will appear in the photo's below, is my friend Joe "Gonzo" Johnson of the Deltahawks. I didn't take as many photo's of the B-36 as I should have. I was overwhelmed by the fact I was going into the airframe! Castle, aside from Chino, PIMA, and the USAF museum, I feel is a true gem. It's one of the finest aviation museums with a range of the entire cold war. They are missing some individual fighters or some unique variants of fighters, but it's a nearly complete selection of everything SAC had from 1946 through 1985.

For those who don't know the B-36 has a nose wheel entrance for the crew, it's very similar to the B-29. The first station you come to is the "green house" under the nose at the forward end of the airframe. It's a multi crew station that seats (I believe) 5 or 6 crew in a very tight space. To give you an Idea of how cramped, Joe is about my size and I only had about 8 inches to the ceiling. Then you exit that compartment to the rear on the pilots/airframe left over a bulkhead hump onto a small single person platform. From this platform you get access to the "cockpit" green house where the pilots and engineers sit. You also get access to the radio stack if you were to continue aft, also the bubble windows and the two pressurized tubes. These tubes lead to the aft of the aircraft crew compartment. One is for maintenance and the other runs the full length of the aircraft to the aft compartment where there were sleeping bunks, a cooking grill, the aft machine gun firing stations and tail gunner.

Castle has a "open cockpit" day something like twice a year and we went to this one in October.

Here is a shot on the opposite side of the fuselage from the middle "platform" which separates this area from the bomber/nav section to the right of the image behind the mass of wiring and radios. This area is HUGE! it's got to be some thing like 10 feet to the top of the fuselage at the high part.

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

This the a shot from the other side of the fuselage looking back to where I took the picture above. It's showing the other bubble window and one of the radio stacks
(Image #2)

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

Here is the wiring running across the top of the fuselage. Taken from the same location as the first image in this post. (airframe right)
(Image #3)

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

That's all I have this time Valcor. I'll do better next time.

[Valcor]

Thanks Maestro!

Great shots!

Open cockpit day? Wow, that might be worth the time to fly out there. Did you get a chance to go into the B-52 cockpit? As big as that aircraft is it sure was hard to get around inside. The B-36 was much easer to work on inside the cockpit and it had a lot more room. Every time I worked on the B-52 I always left the aircraft bleading. Haha!

Thanks for the images and the info.

Valcor

[maestro209]

Thanks Maestro!

Great shots!

Open cockpit day? Wow, that might be worth the time to fly out there. Did you get a chance to go into the B-52 cockpit? As big as that aircraft is it sure was hard to get around inside. The B-36 was much easer to work on inside the cockpit and it had a lot more room. Every time I worked on the B-52 I always left the aircraft bleading. Haha!

Thanks for the images and the info.

Valcor

It's only worth it if you fly into San Jose, stop by to say hello and then we fly out in a light plane!

Because the Castle Museum is really in an out of the way part of California they don't get as much traffic as they would like. Having said that they are struggling to make ends meet and are starting to charge to get into their more popular airframes. This day they were charging to get into the B-52. It was only $5 and I would have happily paid the amount, but because they we offering a "guided tour" with the cost of the ticket. That meant they had to "schedule" each entrance, which we didn't know about until it was full.  Ooops our bad. Next time we will know in advance and we'll be repaired.

Another bummer is they have a B-47 but they were/don't open it up. they say it's way to small to get a large number of people through. I say bah have them go up through the bottom and out the top canopy and down a large set of air stairs! Along with the boomer chair and cockpit in (SN 11) KC-135 being blocked off! But hey I can run around a B-29 interior and many other airframes! GRRRR .....

To add insult to injury their prize possession the SR-71 is in the parking lot, which requires $0 dollars to see! I have no idea why the politics are so messed up at that museum but hey it's some times in our favor some times not!

(Image #4)

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

Hero shot!

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

(Image #5)

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

(Image #6)

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

The museum is in need of some TLC in spots and unless it's an open cockpit day they really don't get many visitors. It's a shame for such a great museum.

>M

[Valcor]

Fantastic Shots Maestro!

Those are some of the best images of an SR-71 cockpit that I have seen. The light was perfect. I really enjoyed the images.

Thanks
Valcor

[thebeev]

great pics there!

[KK]

Great shots Maestro, thank's for sharing.

Any change to get the last two in higher resolution?

Klaus

[Zandor]

Awesome aircraft,  I got to take a close look at one in Huntsville, AL at the Space Center.  

FYI.... I got to talk to a few of the folks they have doing the simulators for Space Camp and Fighter Challenge, say they are quite impressed with the cockpits going on here at VP ( pretty good coming from the folks at NASA   )

Later!

Michael "Z"

[Ka-Bar03]

Would love some high rez pics of the pitshots too. nice! What a marvelous plane, spanning what? 30-40 years? The first shot really projects the length and sleekness.

[Wildcat]

Nice pix of the SR cockpit, Maestro!  I'm jealous - we have an SR here at Pima but it's too much of a bear to get the pit open, I'm told.  I've been jonesin' to sit in that pit ever since I started to work here.

[maestro209]

 

gosh guys, thanks for the compliments!

OK guys, I can give you Hi Rez copies of my shots. All but the ones with Joe in them. I don't have permission to distribute his image. I'll relabel them with numbers to make things easier.

Here is what I need from those who wish Hi Rez photo's

1)tell me which numbers you would like.

2) the max resolution of my Camera is (aprox.) 3000 x 2000 pixel @ 24 bit. If you wish a size smaller please tell me what size you require.

3) I'll be sending all images via email so I'll need an email address. Please PM me with your contact information. Also make sure your inbox can take large files (most have a 3MB to 5MB limit)   

4) I do take pictures for a living, so please respect the rights of the image taker, that'd be me. I'm happy to use the NFL model "intended for the private use, any rebroadcast with out the express written consent of the NFL ... errr me .... is strictly prohibited."

I think that about covers it.

>Maestro209

[maestro209]

Oh yeah and I've added in some other photos not shown here. Some F-106 pit photos, a different angle of both the front and rear SR pits. They'll be included in the Hi Rez emails.

>M

[Valcor]

Hello Everyone!

I thought I would share one of my favorite image links with everyone. Most of these images are from the local Fort Worth, Texas area taken by Keith Robinson http://www.pbase.com/keith1959/. From the images you can see there is a large amount of aircraft activity in this area because of military and civilian aircraft operations.

After looking at the aircraft check out the scenery at the TCU football games!

I hope everyone enjoys the images.
Merry Christmas
Valcor:beer:

I think that is a Harpoon(?) and a Harm being tested on a Block 60 UAE aircraft.

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

[Bazooka]

Well Valcor....at least you included "THE GREATEST " aircraft of all time in your pics


Bazooka

[Valcor]

Yes, I do like the Classics. Haha!

Valcor