Warbird Information Exchange

I dont know if this has been mentioned on the WIX before but this is a pretty good site http://uscockpits.com:80/

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

I think that this site was posted several months ago,but it is definitely a good one.I was just looking at some of the early bombers.The Before Landing checklist prominently displayed in the middle of the instument panel on the XB-14 is still good advice today.

http://uscockpits.com/Early%20Bombers/MartinXB-14.jpg

Can you say GUMP?


Great site!

I find it interesting the way designers place the flight instruments. On a lot of the older aircraft the turn and bank indicator seems to be central, on some it is the compass, then later it is the artificial horizon.

The B-66 strikes me a very strange, very asymmetrical with that control panel on the right side...would be interesting on a night trap...


Nifty stuff.

Z

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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The reason for the odd wrap around cockpit in the B-66 is because it was adapted from the Navy A3D/A-3 series which had two seats in the traditional pilot/co-pilot side by side arrangemt.The A3D was designed from the start as a single pilot airplane,though,and the right seat was for a Navigator/Bombardier.There was also a third aft facing position for the plane captain/rear gunner.
None of these positions was fitted with an ejection seat.The Navy black humor types said that the designaion A3D meant "All Three Dead".Ed Heinemann,the designer,went with a roof hatch for ditching and a bail-out slide in the lower entrance door in lieu of ejection seats.This was mostly a weight saving decision,but also because the early ejection seats had some severe operating limitations.
When the USAF ordered the B-66 based on the A3D,they insisted on ejection seats.There wasn't really room for two ejection seats in the cockpit area.For a look at the A-3 arrangement,this phot shows the Nav's instruments in the right side of the panel:

http://uscockpits.com/Later%20Attack/ER ... arrior.JPG