What I did on my summer vacation...

[cbtaylor 15]

OK, it's not quite summer yet.  Anyway, the wife and I had the opportunity to drop by the Strategic Air and Space Museum just outside Omaha, NE during our excursion to the Badlands and Black Hills in South Dakota.  By chance we happened to arrive about the time they open up the back lot, where they have a few aircraft parked.

 

 

 

Imagine my surprise when they said that we could go inside... :yahoo:

 

 

What I presume is the Radar Navigator/Bombardier position

 

 

Electronic Warfare (I think)

 

 

Main office!

 

 

It was all I could do to squeeze my 5' 6" 200lb frame (I'm not exactly svelte) between the seats to sit in the pilot's seat.  I was so amazed that I was actually able to sit there that I completely forgot to take any more pictures. It is positively cramped (and dark) in all the crew positions. There is NO ROOM to move around.   I couldn't imagine a long mission in a Vulcan.  It makes a B-52 appear to be positively roomy (well, at least the cockpit simulator).

 

 

I think the Iris folks did a very good job of depicting the limited visibility that one has from the flight deck of a Vulcan.  It really made me appreciate their product.  :good: