Calista climbed the access ladder leading to the roof hatch of the Shiane Ray, a design choice she did not like as it made entering and exiting the craft awkward. From the outside, the cockpit did not look too bad, but once she lowered herself into the flight seat she found it a bit claustrophobic. The cockpit was jammed full of all manner of controls, switches, and levers, and had she not been studying the layout for weeks in anticipation of this moment, it would have all been overwhelming. There was no forward view screen either, just layered armor plating, but three large monitor panes rose from the control boards, linked to external cams. She adjusted a few dials and controls that adjusted the armatures of the flight chair to her proportions, and changed the viewing angle of the monitors to her personal tastes. She closed the exit hatch, which brought up the eerie reddish safety lights, which contrasted sharply with the green and blues of the instrumentation and radar panel. She ran the computers through the preflight systems checks, and examined the ordinance lists and flight plan. Finally she was ready to take the craft out. "Flight Com, this is Warhawk Actual requesting clearance for launch." I actually built the pilot chair and control layout for the Shiane Ray first, then built the craft around it. I also spent a while setting up the cockpit lighting - and - well, I felt the need to show it off. Some work was done in post to add some sharper edges and stylization to the visualization. I want to get a look that isn't too realistic, and doesn't look like that fake cartoon filter commonly used in AE and Photoshop.