F-18 Cockpit Geometry

Crate57 · March 11, 2015

Is there anyone out that has or knows of some F-18 cockpit geometry?:)

IvanK · March 11, 2015

Yes I have a pretty comprehensive paper McDonnell Douglas document MDC A4277-5 FA18A and TF/A18a Human Engineering Crew Station Design document.

Some samples:

Edited March 11, 2015 by IvanK

Bucic · March 15, 2015

Nice! Thank you, IvanK!

Do you also have the data on lateral stick movement by any chance? Any data on forces?

BrassEm · March 19, 2015

Nice! Thank you, IvanK!
Do you also have the data on lateral stick movement by any chance?

That would be a great help with these other references.

OnlyforDCS · March 19, 2015

So what is the max allowed height of a US. Navy pilot? I assume there is one, most fighter pilots tend to be short(ish)

geebeer2 · March 19, 2015

I'M LOOKING FOR THIS.....................THANK'SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

SilentGun · March 19, 2015

F-18 Cockpit Geometry

So what is the max allowed height of a US. Navy pilot? I assume there is one, most fighter pilots tend to be short(ish)

It's 6 foot 5 for an air force pilot and 6 foot 2 for a navy pilot

IvanK · March 19, 2015

Nice! Thank you, IvanK!
Do you also have the data on lateral stick movement by any chance? Any data on forces?

Attached Jpg illustrates range of Lateral travel. You can also see this on the plan form diagram in the original post this is the rectangle described as "Locus of SRP travel"

As to stick forces. These vary as a function of G or AOA depending on where you are in the flight envelope the varying stick forces providing the pilot either G or AOA feedback. Some typical values from the NATOPS F18C manual state:

11.1.5 Stick Force. In maneuvering flight, there is a light but constant stick force per g (about 3.5 to

4.5 pounds/g). Unlike many other aircraft, maneuvering stick forces do not vary significantly over the

entire operating envelope as long as the AOA is less than AOA feedback of 22°. Where AOA feedback

is active, maneuvering stick forces are increased significantly.

The FCS incorporates AOA feedback above 22° AOA. To increase

AOA above the feedback AOA of 22°, aft stick must be applied. The AOA for the highest lift available

(CLmax) is approximately 35° AOA. The maximum steady state AOA with full aft stick (35 pounds

stick force) is 50 to 55°. AOA control is good up through max AOA. If the aft stick is released, the FCS

commands nose down pitch until the AOA is reduced below the feedback AOA of 22°. At this time, the

AOA feedback is removed and the FCS again seeks to maintain 1 g flight.

Bazooka · March 20, 2015

Damn shame I couldnt find anything like this for the F-22 cockpit....I'd still be building that instead of a HawgPit

Bucic · March 20, 2015

IvanK, you're the man!

One more thing. The dimensions over arcs, e.g. 3.0 for lateral movement. I reckon these are measured along a straight line, not actual arc lengths. Am I right?

Bwaze · January 24, 2017

About this document called "McDonnell Douglas document MDC A4277-5 FA18A and TF/A18a Human Engineering Crew Station Design" - I can't find it, and there are only a couple of references of it on the net (mostly to the older version, MDC A4277-4). Seems to be an internal thing to McDonnell Douglas, so it's really great that we got these scans with measurements!

I have cleaned up the images a bit and added measurement in millimetres (they are rounded to nearest millimetre), and uploaded them up on my Photobucket. I also made an aligned common image of all three views, but I'm not too sure about alignment of back view.