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

Sublieutenant Eric Brown in the cockpit of his Martlet Mk I (F4F Wildcat) aboard the Royal Navys 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 landings2,407. Author collection

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 Janes 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 doesnt 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 pilots biggest fear was being burned alive. Many carried a pistol, and parachutes werent 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 dangerthe 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 aircraftsitting 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.

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 pilots 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.

Todays 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, Youre basically a voting member. You dont have the final decision.