Cockpit Nostalgia

[CharlieOneSix]

FD2's post of a Concorde panel prompted this look back - maybe other's have cockpit photos of their steeds from way back? FD2 will be familiar with this shot of an anti-submarine Wessex HAS Mk3 helicopter panel from, in my case, 55 years ago..... note the rad alt bug set at 35ft hover height for the autopilot and below that the doppler radar indicator which doubled as a sonar cable drift indicator once the automatic hover was switched from doppler to signals from two sets of cable drift forks to keep the helicopter vertically above the sonar set...so you drifted with any tide. The translucent tape in the compass display was controlled by the Observer down the back. He turned the tape to the heading and wound on the distance he wanted you to 'jump' to the next hover position as you tracked a submarine.....

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....and this oddity for anyone who flew the Wessex HAS Mk1. Two JPT gauges for a single engine helicopter. This was photographed in XS863 which is housed at Duxford. When I used to fly it there was only one JPT gauge but in later life XS863 was at Boscombe Down where for some reason it must have had the second gauge installed - possibly compressor surge investigation if the label is anything to go by.

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[G~Man]

We're not in Kansas, (or the UK), anymore Timothy..... note the altimeter. June 2010, Hannagan Meadows on the Apache National Forest. This is the highest US Forest Service Helipad in the country. I was working fires on the forest with my Helitack crew.

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[Woody]

Photo taken at Brooklands, but G-APIM was flown by PaWoody for BA(Cambrian)

[TheGreenAnger]

There is something truly beautiful about and aircraft's control panel, an epiphany of form and function in perfect aesthetic harmony. I might have posted this one before, but please forgive me if I post it again.

Brutally functional, but beautiful for all that... former US Navy Douglas C-54D 56498 at North Weald under restoration to flying condition.

FlyPast Restoration Scene SKYMASTER- A momentous milestone was passed in late March: engines one and two were started for the first time in 18 years. The hydraulic system has also been checked, and the flaps have been retracted and deployed. Servicing on engine four commenced in mid-April, and the carburettors for both this unit and engine two were dismantled and refurbished. When the weather permits, the polishing of the Skymaster’s exterior will continue, but for now the interior is being stripped prior to respraying. Both ailerons have been removed and are being reconditioned prior to re-covering and refitting them. The next stage will be to run up engine four, while number two is set to be replaced by a low hours powerplant which is already on site. The team is also preparing to start working on the braking system, while the aircraft's undercarriage is scheduled to receive a full overhaul. Three conflicts. Although allocated to the USAAF on March 20, 1945, Douglas C-54D-1-DC 42-72525 was immediately transferred to the US Navy and redesignated as an R5D-3. Its World War Two service began with an Engineer Steve Hornsby attends to one of the four powerplants An engine is successfully fired up at North Weald on March 28 August, several sponsors have come on board. Paint specialists PPG Industries have agreed to supply all necessary paints and sealants, while Future Metals are providing sheet metals for repairs. Consolidated Aircraft Coatings are delivering all the coverings for the control surfaces, and Tempest Aero Group have sourced new spark plugs for all four engines. During the past year, all fuel lines have been checked and connections replaced, and, in January 2021, Save The Skymaster was able to announce that the aircraft had a viable fuel supply. with the restoration. The charity’s aims, meanwhile, are to preserve and demonstrate the Skymaster’s 1940s technology to today’s engineering students, and to educate both current and future generations about the vital role of air transport during World War Two, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War and beyond. It has also sought to train and equip veterans who find themselves isolated and vulnerable by encouraging their participation in the aircraft’s rejuvenation.

[Ex-Ascot]

We have to have a VC10 here. XR808 last flew this one to Cyprus end of July 1993.

The aircraft is now on display at Cosford following an eight month dismantling process, a 70 mile journey along the M6/M54 motorway and a four month rebuild.

Unfortunately it is in the dirty grey colours not the 'Shiny Ten' livery. Never flew a grubby one.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

an epiphany of form and function in perfect aesthetic harmony.

In any aircraft with weapons, all flying instruments become secondary to the weapons and aiming stuff.
And the aircraft maintenance instruments, like fuel management, are less important than that.
You can imagine the designers' conversation
"Hey, Harry. I'm concerned we aren't disorientating the pilot enough. Should we stick this panel here, so he has to stick his head under his right armpit to read it, or here, where he'll have to reverse his grip on the throttles to even see it?"

And as soon as companies went international, all the clever boxes ended up with their own lighting.
And each box designer had its own ideas about dimming. The settings on one might be:
Stygian - Dimmer than Nadine Dorries - Is This Thing Even Working? - Off
and the next might be:
Far Too Bloody Bright - Too Bright - Still Too Bright - (No Off setting - because "That's just what they'll be expecting!")

In Air Defence, they used to ask us to do fun things like Night Lights Out Visual Idents, so you would have to close into close formation on an aircraft with its lights off.
Anything in the cockpit that didn't dim right down was a huge distraction. I used to have a kneepad with 13 little bits of electrical tape stuck to it, which I would use to cover up all the too bright lights and readouts.
And then, for even more fun, you might go to the tanker. Of course, the fuel management panel was off in a dark corner, and with two bits of tape on it.

Still, at least the 7 tanks we had in the Tornado F3 was better than the 11 tanks in the Sea Vixen. They lost so many of those on night sorties, quite often with no clue how - they just never came back.

[TheGreenAnger]

an epiphany of form and function in perfect aesthetic harmony.

Yes, I did go a bit Brian Sewell there for a moment!

For true functional brutalism one could look at the cockpits of the Soviet era. I was trying to find a photo of an old school acquaintance's Yak-18T's cockpit to demonstrate my point, but I can't find it so this one purloined off the web will have to do, even though it completely undermines my thesis as it is quite attractive while still being functional, albeit a bit non-standard from a western standpoint. In fact, it has been far more westernised than the one I was looking for.

I like the red colour which is also apt.

[G~Man]

If we are doing airplanes, then kinda partial to the Nimrod myself....

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[TheGreenAnger]

And then, for even more fun, you might go to the tanker. Of course, the fuel management panel was off in a dark corner, and with two bits of tape on it.

Still, at least the 7 tanks we had in the Tornado F3 was better than the 11 tanks in the Sea Vixen. They lost so many of those on night sorties, quite often with no clue how - they just never came back.

The fuel cocks, cross feeds and valves in some older aircraft were clearly designed as a form of surreal complex or even abstract art. Literally the art of the potential fuel cock up!

https://www.heritageconcorde.com/mid-mi ... eers-panel

This complicated little panel is responsible for the control of fuel to the Concorde fuel tanks, there are 13 fuel tanks numbered 1 to 11 (a standing joke in the Concorde world)

Fuel movement is responsible for correcting

Concorde's C of G during flight

The Center of gravity on Concorde can move some six metres just by moving fuel around the various tanks, a careful balancing act for the flight engineer

[PHXPhlyer]

an epiphany of form and function in perfect aesthetic harmony.

Yes, I did go a bit Brian Sewell there for a moment!

For true functional brutalism one could look at the cockpits of the Soviet era. I was trying to find a photo of an old school acquaintance's Yak-18T's cockpit to demonstrate my point, but I can't find it so this one purloined off the web will have to do, even though it completely undermines my thesis as it is quite attractive while still being functional, albeit a bit non-standard from a western standpoint. In fact, it has been far more westernised than the one I was looking for.

I like the red colour which is also apt.


FunkyYak18T.JPG

D-Ring pulls on lower sidewalls, use thereof?

PP

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Ah, but the Concorde had a man to play with all those, who isn't also trying to fly the d@mn thing!

[TheGreenAnger]

Yes, I did go a bit Brian Sewell there for a moment!

For true functional brutalism one could look at the cockpits of the Soviet era. I was trying to find a photo of an old school acquaintance's Yak-18T's cockpit to demonstrate my point, but I can't find it so this one purloined off the web will have to do, even though it completely undermines my thesis as it is quite attractive while still being functional, albeit a bit non-standard from a western standpoint. In fact, it has been far more westernised than the one I was looking for.

I like the red colour which is also apt.


FunkyYak18T.JPG

D-Ring pulls on lower sidewalls, use thereof?

PP

Used to jettison the doors if I remember correctly.

Edited to say- Looked on my old school mate's site and lo he has posted a manual. Many emergency procedures call for door jettisoning.

https://beardsell.com/flying/yak/Yak_18 ... ndbook.pdf

This was his aircraft which he condescended to allow me to fly a sector in some years back. Appears he has sold it. Must have been wrench as it is a lovely aircraft.

https://beardsell.com/flying/yak/

It is also used as the example photo on the Wikipedia entry.

[CharlieOneSix]

Probably like a few others here, this was my first solo cockpit - a Slingsby Tandem Tutor T31B glider, otherwise known as the Barge! From memory my average flight time from a 900ft winch launch was about 3.5 minutes thereby justifying its nickname...

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[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The RAF Cranwell Tiger Moth did not even have an ASI, but one of those air pressure plates out on the wing that indicated speed. It was perfectly accurate, as I recall.
Turn and slip, altimeter, RPM gauge, and that bloody huge compass was the lot of the cockpit instruments.
Communication was by Gosport tube, no radio. I had inherited a WW2 Mosquito pilot's helmet which had Gosport tubes as well as electric earpieces and microphone, so I could use my own helmet (which actually fit).
Downwind Checks were - Fuel-On, Hatches-Closed
Nothing else to check, as there was nothing else; no flaps, no brakes

[CharlieOneSix]

My father learned to fly on the Comper Swift in 1941. I can’t remember what each letter stood for but he said the pre-takeoff checks were TMPFFS. He remembered them with the mnemonic Tickle My P**** For F**** Sake.

[FD2]

On to the Sea King after the Wessex. I'm not sure what Mark this one is.

Panel 1 r.png (234.5 KiB) Viewed 10066 times

[ExSp33db1rd]

My father learned to fly on the Comper Swift in 1941. I can’t remember what each letter stood for but he said the pre-takeoff checks were TMPFFS. He remembered them with the mnemonic Tickle My P**** For F**** Sake.

Our local flying club suggested ... Too Many Pilots Free Falling In High Cloud Layers. Fill in your own blanks !

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

I didn't remember mnemonics, just the physical positions.
Had a very strange experience when I got another trip in a Bulldog about 9 months after I'd finished on the UAS (140 hours). The pilot invited me to do the pre-flight checks, and off went my hands around the cockpit, arranging things in the usual pleasing and eye-catching manner. Meanwhile, my eyes were just watching as though they were someone else's hands. It was all muscle memory, and my conscious brain was completely detached from the process. Weird. No mistakes either.

[FD2]

My father learned to fly on the Comper Swift in 1941. I can’t remember what each letter stood for but he said the pre-takeoff checks were TMPFFS. He remembered them with the mnemonic Tickle My P**** For F**** Sake.

Brilliant, but careful not to say it loudly with female passengers!

[ExSp33db1rd]

Rarther say it with female passengers than male ones !