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High Res 360 Degree View of SR-71 'Blackbird' Cockpit

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
2FA
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
4,646
Ever wonder what the cockpit of the ol' SR-71 Blackbird looks like? Click through on your desktop browser to check it out in all of its analog beauty with high resolution and 360 degree camera positioning.
 
*sigh* there's one close by. I've always just wanted to sit in it, but alas nope.

Mcminville air museum is the one close to me.
 
Who'd have thought that this thing would look so archaic inside.

Works though. :)
 
I used to work at a NOC near Beale AFB in CA and one of the guys on my team serviced Blackbirds for his whole 20+ year AF career. He had some FANTASTIC stories about pranks on newbies and how the plane would leak like a sieve when it landed so they had special sumps they would sit upon to catch the leaking fluids.
 
I was with the 9th SRW for five years in the early 70's at Beale. I was an R&R specialist on the SR-71.
Traveled the world working on it. At that time, nothing else compared to it. Miserable to work on, but watching it take off and fly was amazing. It set many speed records that have never been touched.

Was tough on marriages though, as we had the highest divorce rate in the military at that time.
 
That was awesome to view...thanks for the link!

The Blackbird is 1 of 3 planes I have always wanted to fly in, the other 2 are the A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog and the AV 8B Marine Corps Harrier Jump Jet. Those 3 encompass the 3 major accomplishments of flight for me.

SR71 = fastest plane ever, highest altitude ever reached.
A-10 = largest single "gun" to fly, the GAU 8/A (dont come after me with the AC130 Gunship and its 105/155mm cannons) and the plane that can still fly with the most damage to the airframe and control surfaces.
AV 8B Harrier = really set the standard for VTOL aircraft, awesome planes all around.
 
I was Integrated Bomber Avionics Systems - Instrument and Flight Controls Specialist for B-52H's. BUFFs cockpit is pretty similar as far as what instruments are used. Granted b52s have 8 engines, so that's 8 fuel flow, oil temp, oil pressure, engine temp, engine pressure etc. Also, they have MFDs, not like the new stuff f22s etc have. Green screens. ADIs are the same, HSI are slightly different, a lot of the same indicators. Lol but a BUFF's mach indicator is really just for show. Especially compared to an sr71. C-130s same stuff.

They definitely reside in the "if it's not broke, don't touch it" realm.

Cool stuff. Alright, enough from this GaC troop.
 
LMT MFA said:
Who'd have thought that this thing would look so archaic inside.

Works though. :)
Click to expand...
It's from the 60's i think, even with modern instrimate updates i doubt they'd risk doing too much to it over the years of service.
 
Watjalukinat said:
I was Integrated Bomber Avionics Systems - Instrument and Flight Controls Specialist for B-52H's. BUFFs cockpit is pretty similar as far as what instruments are used. Granted b52s have 8 engines, so that's 8 fuel flow, oil temp, oil pressure, engine temp, engine pressure etc. Also, they have MFDs, not like the new stuff f22s etc have. Green screens. ADIs are the same, HSI are slightly different, a lot of the same indicators. Lol but a BUFF's mach indicator is really just for show. Especially compared to an sr71. C-130s same stuff.

They definitely reside in the "if it's not broke, don't touch it" realm.

Cool stuff. Alright, enough from this GaC troop.
Click to expand...

That ain't shit. I swapped a video card and played Microsoft flight simulator.

*throws down mic*
 
My second favorite jet after the f-22, despite the problems of the f-22, it's simply beautiful imo.
 
Terry Olaes said:
I used to work at a NOC near Beale AFB in CA and one of the guys on my team serviced Blackbirds for his whole 20+ year AF career. He had some FANTASTIC stories about pranks on newbies and how the plane would leak like a sieve when it landed so they had special sumps they would sit upon to catch the leaking fluids.
Click to expand...
I believe that's because the thing gets so hot in flight it expands like two feet, hence the leaks. Speaking of fluids, that's really the only reason why it's not flown anymore. All the fluids were specifically made for that plane and cannot be obtained anymore.
 
So I just did a quick look over of the entire instrument panel. Where would the camera controls have been for the recon work? I don't see anywhere for them in that panorama.

Was it all automatic? Or are certain controls no longer there (classified tools removed)?

I was assuming that after this long no recon gear from the 60s would still qualify as more than an oddity compared to today's tech.
 
Advil said:
So I just did a quick look over of the entire instrument panel. Where would the camera controls have been for the recon work? I don't see anywhere for them in that panorama.

Was it all automatic? Or are certain controls no longer there (classified tools removed)?

I was assuming that after this long no recon gear from the 60s would still qualify as more than an oddity compared to today's tech.
Click to expand...

In the RSOs area, aka the second seat. Take a closer look at the external of the craft. ;)
 
Weenis said:
In the RSOs area, aka the second seat. Take a closer look at the external of the craft. ;)
Click to expand...

Here's a good shot of what you'd like to see;
2u6jlw1.jpg
 
Advil said:
So I just did a quick look over of the entire instrument panel. Where would the camera controls have been for the recon work? I don't see anywhere for them in that panorama.

Was it all automatic? Or are certain controls no longer there (classified tools removed)?

I was assuming that after this long no recon gear from the 60s would still qualify as more than an oddity compared to today's tech.
Click to expand...

The front seat is the pilot, and the rear seat is the RSO officer (controls cameras)
 
Are you fucked if you accidentally press the wrong button? Any button?
 
A-10 is still in use it would be classified still... you might find one of the version that had to use paper maps though... but they would have to pull some of the instrument control modules out of the sides...

Still love the unofficial nickname of the A-10 the flying bathtub... It had two official designations but I never did find out why the Warthog and Thunderbolt III.

I got to see an A-10 land with about 4-6 feet of one wing, most of the control surfaces shot off and most of the lexan canopy shot to hell. Most of the quote un quote glass in air frame at least for the USAF is lexan not glass. It just goes to prove if you put enough thrust behind something it will stay in the air until it runs out of fuel...

My first career in the USAF back in 1997 was Aircraft Armament Weapon System Tech. It's funny a lot of military guys thought I was nuts when I scored a 97 on the asfab and took that as a guaranteed job, lots of jokes about load toads, but I got see some crazy shit while in. I got to sit the cockpit and load the HUD with the weapons we had just hung off the wings. I was too short to work on the F-15, you needed to be about 6'5" to reach the wings... but I got to visit a F-111 Aardvark, B-52, A-10, F-15, and a F-104 Starfighter that was a trainer craft, in addition to the F-16J I worked on. That last plane was so old that it served in the Vietnam war as a spotter... one of the few planes that did not have swept wings. But fun stuff I'd like to see how far the A-10 had come but not as a load toad, one of the few things that was nuts about that job is if the gun jammed it was the load toad's job to get the bent and partially crushed ammo out of the gun while the EOD guy stood there laughing... then he would take and put it in his little secure box and then in his AC'd humvee and go put it in a box and blow it up all safe and sound, well as much as you can be with 30mm rounds... the F-16 had the same gun only in 20mm instead but much less likely to jam since most F-16 never used the damn things when I was in.
 
I want something with a Mach Hold switch..


It's a crime not to have those things flying. I don't care what it costs.
Amazing machine.
 
Weenis said:
In the RSOs area, aka the second seat. Take a closer look at the external of the craft. ;)
Click to expand...

If you look to the left of the artificial horizon intrument in the panorama picture you can see an "RSO Bailout" switch and "RSO Ejected" indicator.

It's a little hard to tell because of the angle, but man, you really can't see for crap out the front of that thing.
 
Really neat and proves how much quality pilots have to learn and remember. Good grief at all those instruments.
The blackbird was a favorite of mine and I put together toy models of many of them.

A-10 tank buster is still my favorite and I got to see them do bombing runs on a military base.

F-4 phantom was unique.
 
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