F4 phantom rio cockpit series#

In fact, the F-102 cockpit looks like something out of a hobbyist’s basement, while the -106 looks like a fairly modern fighter/interceptor, at least before the dawn of glass cockpits. The Delta Dart was called a development of the F-102, but is significantly improved.

F4 phantom rio cockpit series#

As a latter century series aircraft, I will argue it was part of the beginning of modern fighters.

I chose the F-106 to start because it is a memorable aircraft design of the 1950s. “ICS check.” “Loud and clear.” “Okay, let’s get going.”į-106A Delta Dart (first flight: 1956). Imagine a Spitfire Mk 24 with a podded radar, helmet mounted cueing system, and ASRAAM – with the controls and displays to support it all – and you get the idea. I’ll address the earliest version of each type because later developments had more to do with technical advancements than the state of aircraft design. This is not an exhaustive survey, but a look at representative types that I selected. I was a Topgun instructor and an F-14 RIO, but for this article I’ll move into the front seat and look at instrumentation and controls. And its near-contemporary, the F-4 Phantom, is still in service with five countries. “Sixty-five years seems like a long time, but the F-106 Delta Dart with which I start could be a threat today if still operational. Let’s slam the canopy shut and take a flight through 65 years of cockpit design. We asked former Topgun instructor and F-14 Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Dave ‘Bio’ Baranek to give us the lowdown. This is possible thanks to the wonder of the modern cockpit. Not only this, but today most fighters are multi-role and are tasked with destroying both air and surface targets. Flying twice as fast as an AR15 round and capable of pulling G forces that leave pilots with the same painful lack of mobility as if they weighed an actual ton, a fighter aircraft asks a lot of its pilot.įighting and surviving in such a hostile environment requires lightning-fast assimilation and response to a mass of information.