Fighting Cockpits: In the Pilot’s Seat of Great Military Aircraft from World War I to Today

278 Pages·2016·77.48 MB·English

by  Donald Nijboer

FIGHTING
COCKPITS
In the Pilot’s Seat of Great Military Aircraft from World War I to
Today
DONALD NIJBOER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN PATTERSON
CONTENTS
FOREWORD: By Eric Brown, CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN Former Chief Naval Test Pilot, RAE
Farnborough
INTRODUCTION
1 WORLD WAR I WIND IN THE WIRES
Nieuport 28
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
Bristol F.2B
Fokker Dr.I
Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Triplane
AEG G.IV
SPAD VII
Halberstadt CL.IV
Fokker D.VII
2 BETWEEN THE WARS THE RISE OF THE MONOPLANE
Martin MB-2
Hawker Hind
Fiat CR.32
Boeing P-26 Peashooter
Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk
Vought SB2U Vindicator
Westland Lysander
PZL P.11
3 WORLD WAR II DEATH AT 30,000 FEET
Supermarine Spitfire
Messerschmitt Bf 109
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
North American P-51 Mustang
Handley Page Halifax
Vickers Wellington
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger
Fairey Firefly
Fiat CR.42
Ilyushin Il-2 Šturmovík
Heinkel He 219 Uhu
Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryuū
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
Northrop P-61 Black Widow
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
Dornier Do 335 Pfeil
Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe
Arado Ar 234 Blitz
4 COLD WAR TO THE PRESENT MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION
North American F-86 Sabre
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Grumman A-6 Intruder
General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark
Hawker Siddeley Harrier
McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon
Mikoyan MiG-29
Rockwell B-1 Lancer
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
FOREWORD
The first time I approach an aircraft I am about to fly, I size it up by observing
its beauty of line to assess aerodynamic cleanliness, then its “sit” to judge if its
balance seems right, and next its engine(s) layout to consider if there could be a
likelihood of torque or asymmetry problems. However, this is just a visual
exercise—my mind is really full of anticipation for what the cockpit will be like,
for this is the nerve center of any flight that is to be undertaken.
As a pilot, I look for an “all-round” view: comfortable and easy access to vital
controls (control column, rudder pedals, throttle[s], fuel cocks, propeller
feathering buttons), ejection methods, and an all-weather instrument panel.
These may sound like obvious requirements, but they are by no means always
met in the complexity of modern cockpits.
Ergonomics is the study of the application of logic to environmental
engineering and had its beginnings in World War II. I remember well the first
such practical examples I saw were Germany’s Heinkel 219 night fighter and
United Kingdom’s Martin Baker 5 prototype fighter, but the life of aircraft
designers was easier in those far-off days. The modern designer, however, does
have the flexibility of computerization to aid in this increasingly difficult task.
In examining the history of cockpit development, Donald Nijboer has divided
aviation into four logical eras, and provides a chapter on each of beautifully
written and astute observations on almost every aspect of flight and its incredible
progress over the last one hundred years.
Nijboer is a master of the rare subject of cockpits, and his cooperation with
Dan Patterson, one of the world’s leading aviation photographers, guarantees an
end product of such quality it will be an asset to grace any aviation buff’s
bookshelves.
Eric Brown,
CBE, DSC, AFC, Hon FRAeS, RN
Former Chief Naval Test Pilot,
RAE Farnborough
Sublieutenant Eric Brown in the cockpit of his Martlet Mk I (F4F Wildcat) aboard the Royal Navy’s first escort
carrier, HMS Empire Audacity, fall 1941. During the course of three-plus decades, Brown flew 490 different
types of aircraft, including almost every major (and most minor) combat aircraft of World War II. He also holds
the world record for carrier landings—2,407. Author collection
INTRODUCTION
The origins for the term “cockpit” are unknown. Some say it was taken from the
nautical term for a depression in the deck of a ship for the tiller and helmsman.
Another source comes from the bloody sport of cockfighting. According to
Jane’s Aerospace Dictionary the cockpit is defined as “space occupied by pilot
or other occupants, especially if open at the top. Preferably restricted to small
aircraft in which the occupants cannot move in their seat.” That rather dry
description doesn’t come close to describing the place from which the fighting
cocks of the aviation world waged their vicious battles.
The fighting cockpit was never designed for comfort or pleasure. From the
canvas and wood structures of World War I to the high-tech all-glass cockpits of
today, the cockpit remains a solitary, mysterious, and dangerous place.
From the very beginning of air combat, the cockpit was one of the last parts
of the aircraft to which designers turned their focus. Their concerns were engine
power, armament, and aerodynamics. The pilot had to go somewhere and it was
almost always over the center of gravity. For World War I pilots, the cockpit was
composed of nothing more than a wicker seat, canvas sides, a control column,
rudder pedals, one or two instruments, and a machine gun. It was a cold, noisy,
unforgiving space. Here, the pilot’s biggest fear was being burned alive. Many
carried a pistol, and parachutes weren’t used until the end of the war and then
only by the Germans.
The 1930s saw the advent of the all-metal monoplane fighter and bomber.
With its enclosed cockpit pilots reached new speeds and heights unimagined just
a few short years before. They were also in greater danger—the cockpit was a
more cluttered space with myriad instruments and controls. Little thought was
given as to how a good functioning cockpit should work. Pulling the wrong lever
or bumping a switch often meant a crash landing or worse.
During World War II the cockpit had developed to some degree, but most of
the designs were still from the 1930s. A Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot would
find few surprises in a 1944 P-51 or Tempest.
Fighter pilots have often described “bonding” with their aircraft—sitting
snuggly in the cockpit and having the feeling of being one with their fighter.
That snugness, however, had more to do with the structure of the aircraft and not
the cockpit design. A streamlined Spitfire with its liquid-cooled Merlin had a
slender fuselage and thus a tight cockpit. The P-47 Thunderbolt, with its giant R-
2800 Double Wasp radial engine, had a more commodious front office.
2800 Double Wasp radial engine, had a more commodious front office.
The advent of jet combat, with the introduction of the Gloster Meteor Mk I
and Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1944, ushered in a new era of military aviation.
From the 1950s onward aircraft performance improved at a rapid rate and
aircraft systems kept pace by becoming more complex. A pilot’s workload
increased and multirole aircraft only complicated the situation. Little thought
was initially given to ensure the pilot/machine interface was properly designed.
Accident rates were high, and most were attributed to pilot error.
Years would pass before designers turned their attention to the idea that pilots
and aircrew had to be aware at all times of what their aircraft was doing both
inside and outside the cockpit, or that the instruments and controls inside had to
be logically arranged. Only then could flight and engine information be easily
and quickly accessed, allowing for sensible and rapid decisions.
Today’s modern fighter cockpit is a marvel of technology. Innovations like
the heads-up display (HUD), multifunction display (MFD), hands-on throttle and
stick (HOTAS), and forward-looking infrared (FLIR) have made the cockpit
easier to fly and fight in. Digital computers do most of the flying. As F-22 pilot
Lt. Col. Clayton Percle explains, “You’re basically a voting member. You don’t
have the final decision.”
This book is divided into four distinct periods of aviation, and each chapter
introduction describes the evolution of the cockpit. Through Dan Patterson’s
amazing photographs we get to see this transformation up close, from the Blériot
to the F-35. We also hear firsthand accounts from the “world’s greatest pilot,”
Capt. Eric Brown RN (Ret.), as well as from combat veterans, test pilots,
instructors, and current warbird pilots who describe what it’s like to be in the
cockpits of these amazing aircraft. The result is a rare intimate glimpse of what it
must have been like to fly in some of the most feared and famous combat aircraft
ever built.
CHAPTER ONE: WORLD WAR I
WIND IN THE WIRES
On August 4, 1914, German troops set
foot on Belgian soil. Treaty-bound
France, Britain, Italy, Austria, and
Russia were irrevocably committed,
and all of Europe was officially at war.
It would be a war of extremes—of
mud, mass slaughter, and stalemate; of
technological marvels, and of the birth
of a new type of warrior. Barely eleven
years after the Wright Brothers took
their first flight, this new war would
take to the skies.
Army commanders on both sides
believed the coming confrontation
would be a land campaign. Air power,
still an unknown, would play a minor
role at best. Early experiments in 1910
had proven that the best role for the airplane would be reconnaissance. French
army maneuvers in 1911 consistently showed that airplanes could locate enemy
troops some 37 miles (60 kilometers) away.
After every war soldiers of all stripes disparage the generals and politicians
for their lack of foresight and inability to properly prepare for the next war. The
newly minted airmen of World War I drew especially bitter pleasure from this
pastime. Often-repeated stories focused their venom on the great men who had
dismissed the importance of the aeroplane. Britain’s generals Sir William
Nicholson and Sir Douglas Haig suggested before the war that aircraft would
never be of any use to the army. In truth, however, the major world powers had
already begun to build up their air forces with remarkable rapidity shortly before
the opening of hostilities.
An S.E.5a cockpit section revealed. This simple, wire-braced, box-girder wooden construction was typical for a
World War I scout.
In August 1914 the nations of Europe mobilized more than six million men
for battle. That total, however, included fewer than two thousand pilots and one
thousand aircraft. The fragile wood-and-canvas open-cockpit planes that
dominated both sides at the beginning of the war were all spectacularly slow.
The Blériot XI, made famous by Louis Blériot when he flew across the English
Channel in 1909, equipped seven British, eight French, and six Italian squadrons
at the outbreak of war. For all its fragility, the Blériot XI was leading-edge
technology. Cockpit “instrumentation” consisted of a watch and a map of the
flight route rolled onto a scroll. Airspeed and altitude were left to the pilot’s