Jul 152011
First poster to correctly ID (with appropriate level of specificity) this gets $20 in downloadables. I’ll leave this here through the weekend or so.
UPDATE: This was clearly *entirely* too easy: the cockpit mockup of the Super Hustler.
7 Responses to “Contest: What is this?”
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Let’s see here:
1. Looks like a cockpit mock-up from many decades ago.
2. The curve of the cabin wall on the left side, but not the right, hints that there are two crew sitting side-by-side.
3. At least two engines from the throttle cluster on the right side.
4. No visible canopy. Some kind of periscope or other vision system is apparent on the instrument panel. That indicates that this a high speed vehicle.
5. There is an “air conditioning” panel on the left. That hints that it is an aircraft and not a spacecraft, which would typically have oxygen controls.
I initially thought it was a XF-103, but the apparent two crew seats weighed against that choice. The throttle arrangement also didn’t support the XF-103: although it was to have two engines, it is unlikely you’d want to throttle them up and down together.
So I thought of the Convair FISH, and remembered it is mentioned in “From RAINBOW to GUSTO”. Thumbing through my copy, I stumbled across a photo of a different view of the same mockup, dated 5-26-58.
“Super Hustler crew comp. mockup”
That is my final answer!
Just to be clear, I believe this is the Convair Super Hustler that is a two-part parasite aircraft.
Collect your prize (send me an email).
Grumman early A6 intruder
James has probably got it right, but I’ll take a shot at the Avro 730 cockpit, this showing the pilot’s position in the periscope-equipped version mock-up.
It is the Super Hustler mockup
http://www.testpilot.ru/usa/convair/b/58/super/images/shustler-cockpit.jpg
It’s the bombardier’s station on a B-52.