At the Controls: The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Book of Cockpits - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1550463659 ISBN 13: 9781550463651

Publisher: Boston Mills Press, 2001

Synopsis

This is perhaps the finest collection of cockpit photographs in existence. The National Air and Space Museum holds the world's premier collection of historic aircraft, but visitors to the museum must maintain a respectful distance. In At the Controls, NASM photographers Eric Long and Mark Avino use creative lighting techniques andphotography to duplicate the sensation of actually being at the controls inside the cockpit of 45 legendary aircraft, with access not only to the instrument panels but to the consoles as well. The reader experiences a pilot's-eye view. This book will be a treasured addition to every aviation library.

About this title

About the Author

Eric Long is a senior photographer for the Office of Imaging, Printing and Photography Services. He has photographed collections at both the Museum of American History and the National Air and Space Museum.

Mark Avino has been the chief photographer for the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Imaging, Printing and Photographic Services since 1983.

Editor Tom Alison is the chief of the NASM Collections Division, responsible for managing all aspects of care for the National Air and Space Collections. He is a former curator for the military aircraft in the collection and a retired Air Force pilot.

Edtior Dana Bell has been on the staff of the NASM Archives since 1981. He is the noted author of 17 books on aviation and an expert on aircraft markings.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

The cockpit of an airplane or spacecraft is where humanity and technology meet. It is where the pilot actually takes control of the machine. At the Controls gives the reader an opportunity to view the cockpits of a number of the aircraft and spacecraft in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum collections. Many of these historically significant craft are one of a kind, others are well known, even by non-aviation buffs, for significant events in mankind's travel through air and space history.

The wonderful cockpit images created by Smithsonian photographers Eric Long and Mark Avino are designed to give the reader an up-close-and-personal sense of just what the pilot's 'office' looks like in each of these craft. The particular craft were chosen to give the reader a sense of the advances and changes in technology; from the very simple hip cradle and wing-warping control of Orville and Wilbur Wright's 1903 Flyer to the magnificently modern glass cockpit in the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia. As airplanes developed in terms of performance and capability, so did their cockpits and controls.

The origin of the use of the word cockpit to describe the area in which a pilot controls an airplane or spacecraft is difficult to pinpoint. The term was not used by the Wright Brothers when referring to the pilot's position in their Flyer, but by 1913 it was associated with the semi-enclosed area for pilots and passengers in aircraft having fuselages. Over time the term has evolved to one that specifically describes a position for pilots as they direct the flight of aircraft and spacecraft.

That evolution is revealed as we see the changes and improvements in the flight instruments, navigational instruments, and actual flight controls reflected in these unique photographs. Early aviators controlled their craft by sight, sound, and feel. Instruments and flight controls were rudimentary, and the airplane's reaction, slow -- almost awkward by modern standards. As airplane engines increased in power, the craft's speed and performance also increased. Wood and fabric became aluminum alloy, and soon even stronger alloys, such as the titanium of the SR-71, were used. Today, we see high-strength composites as the common material in aircraft and spacecraft construction.

Airspeed and altitude measuring instruments evolved to be larger in scale and more precise. With the historic flight of the Bell X-1 in October 1947, when Captain Chuck Yeager first flew faster than the speed of sound, another term entered the pilot's lexicon, Mach, and another instrument, the Mach meter, became important. Later, we see these speed-measuring indicators developed from round analog instruments to digital readouts combined with other information on a glass screen, as in the cockpits of the F-16, the Airbus, and the Space Shuttle.

The attitude indicator made the pilot no longer dependent on visual confirmation of the airplane's position relative to the Earth; it also enabled the pilot to control the craft while in cloud or while otherwise unable to see past the front of the airplane. Early vacuum indicators became electrically operated, providing more reliability, and still later were developed to project their information on television-like screens, their input coming from an air data computer.

Early aviators navigated completely by reference to landmarks on the ground. One of the earliest navigational instruments was the small, non-precision, wet compass, enabling the pilot to determine the basic direction of flight. This evolution of instrumentation can also be followed in At the Controls, as heading indicators and radio compasses turn into flight directors and precision-instrument landing systems, and on to the sophisticated, satellite-based Global Positioning System, which indicates the aircraft's position within a matter of feet.

All the aircraft cockpits photographed for At the Controls are a part of the National Air and Space Museum's collection, with the exception of the F-16, the Airbus, and the Space Shuttle Columbia. Any treatment of the subject of cockpits should reflect current technological standards, thereby allowing the reader to measure the changes that have taken place over time. For this reason, we have included these three modern cockpits, even though the specific aircraft and spacecraft are not a part of the National Collection.

Whether the reader's interest is in the artistic aspects of aviation, its technical developments, historic significance, or simply a general curiosity about aviation and space flight, we trust that At the Controls, featuring the superb photographic work of Eric Long and Mark Avino, will be a source of pleasure, interest, and knowledge.

Edition details

• Publisher: Boston Mills Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1550463659
• ISBN 13: 9781550463651
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 144
• Editor: Alison Tom, Bell Dana