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Member
Is this going to be a feature as I believe many aircraft opened canpies on carrier ops?
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Member
Is this going to be a feature as I believe many aircraft opened canpies on carrier ops?
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Senior Member
I for one surely hope so! To see planes on deck with the canopies closed screams FAKE! Besides that visibility is better with it open, especially with some of the early heavily framed cockpits. When cruising along at a leisurely pace (much Pacific flying was done so to maximize range) having the "hood" open helps search for those bogies as well.
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Senior Member
I think so. Luthier has posted pictures of a Corsair with the canopy open while sitting on the carrier deck, and I believe he has also mentioned in a post of his that the canopies would be functional.
Razor
IV/JG51 Intelligence Officer
www.jg51.net
"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from poor judgement"
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Member
i wonder if they will put in a feature, where having the cockpit open will lower aerodynamics, and therefore lower top speed. otherwise people would just leave it open all the time for more visibility.
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Senior Member
To be really realistic we will let the wind beat your head around enough that you can't read the instruments! Another reason that the hoods were often left open for "econ" cruise was just to stay cool in what was a hot muggy climate, at least below 10-15,000'
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Senior Member
Interesting idea! I did a couple of quick "test flights" in a 1% CFSII F4U 1D and a CFSIII F4U-4 to see if the canopy position made any speed difference. For the F4U-1D at 1000'MSL top speed with the canopy closed (No Water Meth) was 340 mph. Canopy open was about 14 mph slower! For the F4U-4 1% plane in CFSIII top speed at 10,000 MSL was 415 mph, no difference with the canopy open! Both are true airspeeds corrected for altitude and assuming a standard lapse rate.
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Senior Member
Canopies were opened for:
Cooling, there was no air conditioning in fighters in those days.
Visibility, you could lean out just a little to see around the nose of the aircraft.
Safety, no ejection seats, so if something went terribly wrong, you needed to exit fast and opening the canopy would have eliminated "fast" from the exit.
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Senior Member
most carrier takeoffs were also performed with the canopy open - in case of a stall or engine failure the pilot would have one less thing to do to get out alive.
Goin'fishin'
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Member
Not to mention the stresses from ditching could potentially warp the canopy and freeze it closed.