Cockpits of the Cold War

Flight Journal, Dec 2004

Cockpits of the Cold War by Donald NiJboer; photographs by Dan Pattcrson. Boston Mills Press, 132 Main St., Erin, Ontario,.Canada NOB ITO; 192 pages; illustrated; $39.95.

The end of WW II coincided with the emergence of a new powerplant that changed aviation forever. As proof, the sheer number of jet aircraft designed and built in the 1950s was staggering, as were the swift advances in aerodynamics, engine technology and avionics.

Donald Nijboer's new book attempts to show how rapidly rhilitary aviation changed. This volume features cockpits that represented a real advance in aviation technology. As might be expected, the Americans and Russians weren't the only ones with good ideas. The British, Canadians, French and Swedes all contributed.

Here are 39 of the greatest bombers and fighters of the Cold War. As in previous works, the spectacular clarity of Dan Patterson's camera shines through, bringing the reader into the cockpits of such innovative aircraft as the Avro CF-100, Dassault Mystere, Handley Page Victor, Lockheed SR-71, Mikoyan MiG-Zl and Saab J 35. Pilots such as Robin Olds and Ron Dick, who knew the cockpits intimately, contribute their thoughts on what it was like to fly these classics.

In all, this is another fascinating volume of information and intriguing images by the team of Nijboer and Patterson. Their "Cockpits: An Illustrated History of WW II Aircraft Interiors" (also $39.95) is equally fascinating, and the two provide a good overall view of the path of military aviation in the nearly 30 years since the beginning of WW II. It is a perspective well worth seeing.