Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

Is it common to see planes with bicolor canopies? (clear in back, darker/yellow in front)

http://www.f-16.net/gallery_item213426.html

or is it just the way the light hits it or because there was something wrong with it?

little help please

-Brice

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The very back part is called a fixed canopy. Nothing more than a thick sheet of plexiglas. It's also no fun to remove if the jet has spent many years sitting in the sun...i.e.Luke, Nellis, or SWA. There are other threads here which explain the front parts so I won't even go there now.

Purple

The aft transparency is easy to change as of late with the use of a dry seal vs. the tacky crap we used in the past. The only prob anymore is breaking dang nutplates!. Usually the last Screw to be installed too!!! Damn that luck!

Sulfer, doesn't the TO call it a fixed canopy? I know we called it the AFT trans, and then I could never find it in the book.

PS. you are lucky now.....that old stuff sucked.

No not usual to see the complete differences that you see in that picture FCP vs RCP but yes there is a reason for the different colors of canopies.......nuff said..!!

You know? To be honest, I am not certain what the T.O. refers to it as anymore. If I am not mistaken the color difference is merely a manufaucturer difference. Could be wrong, but I know that there is fact behind it to a certain extent.

I just looked at the pic that the original poster was commenting on... he was referring to a D-Model canopy and transparencies... haha! nevermind all the jibber jabber on the "Aft Transparency/Fixed canopy". Like I mentioned in the previous post, I think it has a lot to do with manufacturers.

At Nellis we were at first told that was how you could tell if a pilot has pissed in the cockpit of that plane because the moisture from his urine would then be trapped in the canopy. We were all skeptical at this of course but it was one of those things where they try to get the new guys with some mumbo jumbo. Also that the yellow ones had ram on it to help give it a smaller RCS. More horse dump. But from I believe it is the dust and the sun getting to it over time. Or at least that was the best that egress folks could come up with.

RamsteinPilot526 wrote:

Is it common to see planes with bicolor canopies? (clear in back, darker/yellow in front)

http://www.f-16.net/gallery_item213426.html

or is it just the way the light hits it or because there was something wrong with it?

little help please

-Brice

Call me ignorant.. but I'm more curious about that small bulge beneath the air inlet in this pic? Thanks in advance.

I believe that is a targeting system for some foreign F-16s.

Newbie Joined: Dec 28, 2006 Posts: 9 Status: Offline

That small bulge is actually the Carapace RWR/ECM system
http://www.f-16.net/f-16_users_article2.html

So, has anyone reached a safe conclusion? What's that yellow tint for?
(just a point, gps receivers don't work in a vipers cockpit and dont give me that faraday stuff, this jet aint a prowler)

Elite Joined: Jul 11, 2007 Posts: 664 Status: Offline

JpoLgr wrote:

So, has anyone reached a safe conclusion? What's that yellow tint for?
(just a point, gps receivers don't work in a vipers cockpit and dont give me that faraday stuff, this jet aint a prowler)

Depends on the unit, one place I was at had tint for the rear only. The reason was simple enough, glare protection. Other places don't do that, depends on where you are and what they like at OPS.
Hope that helps.

ACMIguy wrote:

The reason was simple enough, glare protection.

That sounds right to me! Exclamation

Newbie Joined: Apr 01, 2008 Posts: 5 Status: Offline

I believe the yellow tint is due to gold flakes that are inbeded in the transparency during manufacturing. yes this is supposed to cut down the glare.

Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

2-color canopy