What're those round dials for?

BillTIZ said:
Ahh... complete with 6 gear indicators and dialed in crosswind crab.
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Oh it gets better. Not shown in the picture is the entire hydraulic panel on the aircraft commander side, entire electric, pneumatic and engine start panel (when you have eight engines, yeah you need an entire panel even for starters lol) on the copilot side. And the big daddy of them all, the fuel panel taking the entire arc across the front panel on the copilot side. And no flight engineer either.

10 fuel tanks, 4 generators, 4 independent crossfeed valves, fully transferable across all tanks plus fully reversible air refueling capability. Not a single function automatic. I think the fuel panel had about 16 valve swithes. Fuel sequences published by Boeing and had to be monitored manually by the copilot. I could tell my copilot sucked when the airplane started sitting on its rear in cruise flight and figured he kept a tank open too long without switching to the aft body. Took a whole mess of a time to transfer back, kind of a problem if I needed to release weapons out the external racks (forward loaded ). Airplanes don't take well to losing 24k out in front in 60 seconds. Look like a damn bonanza with 4 on board and less than an hour fuel left lol.

The bone is Gucci by comparison wrt automated systems. Quite the upgrade by comparison.
 
hindsight2020 said:
Oh it gets better. Not shown in the picture is the entire hydraulic panel on the aircraft commander side, entire electric, pneumatic and engine start panel (when you have eight engines, yeah you need an entire panel even for starters lol) on the copilot side. And the big daddy of them all, the fuel panel taking the entire arc across the front panel on the copilot side. And no flight engineer either.

10 fuel tanks, 4 generators, 4 independent crossfeed valves, fully transferable across all tanks plus fully reversible air refueling capability. Not a single function automatic. I think the fuel panel had about 16 valve swithes. Fuel sequences published by Boeing and had to be monitored manually by the copilot. I could tell my copilot sucked when the airplane started sitting on its rear in cruise flight and figured he kept a tank open too long without switching to the aft body. Took a whole mess of a time to transfer back, kind of a problem if I needed to release weapons out the external racks (forward loaded ). Airplanes don't take well to losing 24k out in front in 60 seconds. Look like a damn bonanza with 4 on board and less than an hour fuel left lol.

The bone is Gucci by comparison wrt automated systems. Quite the upgrade by comparison.
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Got a tour this summer. If C-141s and C-5s got new cockpits, why can’t the buff?4FBE575D-BCB5-41D6-843B-8565708241CD.jpeg
 
Cooter said:
Got a tour this summer. If C-141s and C-5s got new cockpits, why can’t the buff?View attachment 68281
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because F-35 potato. They'll say EMP hardening, but it's all BS. The pecking order is established, and legacy strat bombers like the buff are not anywhere near the top. The mission set is also well established, and much to the chagrin of the community, it's a sunset mission. So they'll minimize the investment beyond notional airframe life extensions. Which is why they're not gonna get the 4 engine mod either. and btw, they did get an AMP upgrade two years ago in order to handle smart weapons internally, plus some updated radios and 1990s tech MFD displays for the EVS/FLIR. So in a way you're already looking at the new cockpit lol.
 
Bill Watson said:
I learned like a real pilot but I’m a progressive. In the process of deep sixing my remaining round gauges for another PFD.

Anyone interested in a couple UMA gauges and a TruTrak ADI?
18a1fc34f3fd45a182368602b404572a.jpg



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What?? No "Before Landing" or "Landing" checklists? Even my 1970 model has those from the factory, backlit even!
 
Bill Watson said:
I learned like a real pilot but I’m a progressive. In the process of deep sixing my remaining round gauges for another PFD.
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I have the same conversation with myself regularly. I can get rid of all roundies with a D180, or by adding a D10. But I keep convincing myself to keep the dollars in my wallet and that I like the redundancy with multiple failure modes. That's what I tell myself.
panel.jpg
 
Cooter said:
Got a tour this summer. If C-141s and C-5s got new cockpits, why can’t the buff?
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Because restoring an antique airplane using non-authentic components of the vintage costs you points with the judges and reduces the value in the market. ;)
 
GRG55 said:
Because restoring an antique airplane using non-authentic components of the vintage costs you points with the judges and reduces the value in the market. ;)
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That's a real thing! I have a family member who was the original owner of '55 T-bird. Black plates and all (California). It was her first car when she was 16.

She put vanity plates on it in the blue plate era. WTF? She did keep the radio and everything else original, but those dumb plates.
 
Hank S said:
What?? No "Before Landing" or "Landing" checklists? Even my 1970 model has those from the factory, backlit even!
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With fixed gear, there’s just nothing check. (helmet on)


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Ravioli said:
I have the same conversation with myself regularly. I can get rid of all roundies with a D180, or by adding a D10. But I keep convincing myself to keep the dollars in my wallet and that I like the redundancy with multiple failure modes. That's what I tell myself.
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I’m not making the change just for kicks. The pilot display is being replaced with a larger one (plug compatible but enhanced with more buttons and touch screen). The eyes aren’t improving with time for some reason so I need the real estate.

Doing the panel old school however, including hand file for the square switch holes. Very easy to do it turns out.


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Hank S said:
Prop forward?
Mixture rich?
Lights on?
Seatbelts fastened?
Seatbacks upright?

Correct pattern direction?
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I just don’t need a checklist for that stuff, even when distracted. I only fly the one plane so there’s that.

I’d add “Flaps set” if I were doing a checklist.

Since I don’t do gliders any more I feel safe in stating that I flew retractable gear sailplanes for about 15 years, never used a checklist and never bellied one. My ‘flow’ for the gear was anytime I was landing I’d open the side window which would fill the cockpit with a roar - that was always followed by dropping the gear. If I abandoned the landing, the gear comes up the and the window is closed. The roar gave me a heads-up airspeed check and the gear reminder. I guess that’s a 2 line checklist turned into a flow.


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Ted DuPuis said:
In a Facebook discussion, a friend of mine commented he'd been running numbers on Citation 525s. I responded with a Controller link to a Lear 35, one of my favorite jets (albeit not single pilot, etc.), mostly joking. And then he responded (jokingly) "What're those round gauges for?" Here's what they're for:
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Beautiful!

Truth be told, I always file /A !
 
N1120A said:
CRQ is a great place to log .1 of actual to keep current without going under the hood, LOL.
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Yeah, I’ve had to shoot that ILS at least 50% of the time I’ve flown in.
 
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