CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

[Valcor]

Hello All

I found this to be interesting...I hope everyone else does also.

http://www.codeonemagazine.com/test/archives/2007/articles/jan_07/cockpits/cockpits.html

Valcor

[idekkers]

great magazine, forgot about that one.

few observations :
the F35  pit is just boring, the F117 pit is the biggest mess i've ever seen,
and how the f*** can a kc130 land on a carrier ?

Ido

[Auke104]

great magazine, forgot about that one.

few observations :
the F35  pit is just boring, the F117 pit is the biggest mess i've ever seen,
and how the f*** can a kc130 land on a carrier ?

Ido

How about the F-104 cockpit About that KC-130, some time ago there were some trials letting KC-130/C-130's take off from carriers(With JATO?). I never saw pictures that they landed those things. Presumably those trials were held close to land. The pictures shows one taking off.

[Nikolas_A]

The C-130 was tested as a possible Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) a/c.

No JATO used, IIRC only the brakes were improved, everything else was stock.

Testing was successful, but is was considered unpractical, especially since no fighters could be parked on the deck, leaving the carrier unprotected


Nikolas

[Nikolas_A]

More info

Most impressive:

"The last landing I participated in, we touched down about 150 feet from the end, stopped in 270 feet more and launched from that position, using what was left of the deck. We still had a couple hundred feet left when we lifted off. Admiral Brown was flabbergasted."

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNyQvhsQE8" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjNyQvhsQE8</a>

[Valcor]

The mother of all cockpits!

I started working on aircraft when I was 14 years old. The first aircraft that I turned a wrench on was a B-36 Peacemaker. I was involved with an air museum which was in the process of moving a static B-36 display from one side of town to the other side of town.
 
One of the most complex cockpits I have ever seen was in the B-36. The aircraft had a pilot, co-pilot, engineer and co-engineer station upstairs.

Pilot's station

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

Pilot's Turbo panel

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

Engineer's station

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

Valcor

[Wildcat]

Valcor....those pictures look very much like they were taken at the Pima Air & Space Museum.  Is that the move you helped with?

[Sledge]

Wow, does Pima have a B-36 now?  It really has been a long time.  I have to get down there for a visit!!  I thought the only B-36 on display in the world was at Wright-Patterson.

[Wildcat]

Welllll...as a matter of fact we do.  The fuselage is still in two pieces from it's move to Tucson from Fort Worth (sorry, Falcor)...but she be up on her gear again and the cockpit is almost pristine!

There are four Peacemakers left....Carswell AFB, Wright Patterson AFB, Offut AFB....and ours.

There have been a LOT of changes....new hangar....new seaplanes exhibit....new SR-71 exhibit (a/c raised on stands about 3 feet)....and today, if the aviation gods are friendly, we'll be getting the last flying Avro Shackleton taildragger....  http://www.warbirdalley.com/shack.htm

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

[Valcor]

Valcor....those pictures look very much like they were taken at the Pima Air & Space Museum.  Is that the move you helped with?

No, unfortunately I was not involved with the move to Pima County. The Pima group was well equipped to handle the move. I was glad to see the aircraft go to a good home where it would be reassembled and displayed for the public. The outdoor environment in Arizona is much better on aircraft than the wetter environment of the DFW area.

That move was a sore subject for a lot of people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We wanted to keep the Aircraft here in the area but unfortunately there was not enough community support (money) to display it properly. Because of lack of support from the surrounding community we lost a complete aircraft museum. We had accumulated a world-class museum but there was not enough money or support to maintain it.

In addition to the B-36 we had a B-52, KC-97, F-100, F-86, F-89, F-111, B-58, T-33, P-2 Neptune and a F-105 just to name a few. The Dallas Fort worth area lost a huge attraction for this area. On some occasions we would get two to three hundred people a day visiting the museum. We had visitors come in from all over the world to look at the unique aircraft displayed here in Fort Worth. The shame of it is that many of those aircraft were built right here in Fort Worth and now we will never be able to get them back to this community.

Here is the link to the images I used for my post. http://www.simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2376009

Thanks
Valcor

[Wildcat]

Those are pretty recent.  In case anyone's wondering why the tail is doing a wheelie, that's how one puts together a B-36 without a crane.  The nose will be lifted to an appropriate angle, and the two ends carefully moved and bolted together.  There are large girders that pass through the bomb bay and wing carry-through that mate with similar girders in the tail section.  Hundreds of small bolts need to be fastened.  Lots of fun.  Glad I work in Exhibits, not Resto!!

[Ka-Bar03]

A Great early ColdWarrior! Lots f great planes from that erra. I've seen the one at the USAF museum and it is really a behemoth.

[maestro209]

Welllll...as a matter of fact we do.  The fuselage is still in two pieces from it's move to Tucson from Fort Worth (sorry, Falcor)...but she be up on her gear again and the cockpit is almost pristine!

There are four Peacemakers left....Carswell AFB, Wright Patterson AFB, Offut AFB....and ours.

There have been a LOT of changes....new hangar....new seaplanes exhibit....new SR-71 exhibit (a/c raised on stands about 3 feet)....and today, if the aviation gods are friendly, we'll be getting the last flying Avro Shackleton taildragger....  http://www.warbirdalley.com/shack.htm

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

Wildcat,

You forgot one.

RB-36 at Castle AFB

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

(Image #1)

CODE ONE - Special Cockpit Edition

http://www.elite.net/castle-air/mattbearup.html

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=37.367117,-120.578781&spn=0.003551,0.008234&t=h&z=18&om=1


>Maestro

[Valcor]

Great Shots Maestro!

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

I remember working in the Texas heat in the cockpit. That canopy was just like a magnifying glass. I also remembered that the front and aft throttles were interconnected with each other. The version that was located at Fort Worth was a featherweight version designed for high altitude missions. A large amount of equipment had been removed just for this reason.

The original idea was to restore the bird to flyable status. I am not sure that would have been a good idea. If that huge plane ever crashed into a populated area it could have done a great deal of damage. Each of the six 4360 engines was as big as a large SUV. I could stand flat-footed inside the wing fuel cell and have about 3 inches of headroom to spare (I am 5'7"). There was a catwalk inside the wing. Once you got past the landing gear opening and the first inboard engine you had to crouch down to make your way to the outboard engines. The wing was so high off the ground that falling through the landing gear opening could have been fatal.

Each engine had it's own 50 gallon oil tank embedded in the wing for inflight servicing. Radial engines use a large amount of oil. The engineers could add oil in flight as needed.

The massive propellers were hollow. At the end of the propeller was a small opening, which allowed heat to flow through the entire length of the propeller for deicing.

Valcor

[Wildcat]

I may have the Carswell AFB '36 mislocated.  Thanks for the correction.  Concur about heat in the cockpit.  In the Arizona desert, it's nasty in summer. 

I heard about the attempt to bring the former Fort Worth / Pima aircraft back to flyable status.  Since museums get these aircraft with the provision that they not be restored to flyable condition, the USAF was not amused.  A team showed up at some point after the engines had been returned to running condition and corrected the situation with a bit of demilling.  Bummer.  That would have sounded so cool.  We ran the Shackleton's engines today...all four of 'em, and it was tres visceral.  Going to do it one more time tomorrow morning before we defuel the aircraft for restoration and display.  Cool bird, the Shack.

I'm 5' 7" myself.  I see the openings for the B-36 wing inspection tunnels on the wing roots....hope to test that height measurement myself!