Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

I think Rig meant .5-.6 inches for the aft transparency. It's most likely a typo I'm sure, as I've worked with him and, he knows. The actual thickness we mic'd ot before was very close to 3/8" think. The main bubble is about 1 1/4".

Mike V

F-16.net Sponsor

I attended Florida Skyfest yesterday and asked the pilot (I think?) standing next to a golden canopied Viper what it was for and if it had anything to do with radiation/nukes. He laughed and said no and did not respond further besides saying they were being taken off. It kind of felt like I was asking classified info! Maybe he didn’t really know what it was for, but just the way he laughed it off made me uneasy hehe.

Things may have changed since I left F-16's in '88 but at that time the "Golden" canopies were a fairly new thing. Both the composition and the function of the golden coating was classified.

Believe me, he knows what it is for and if he didnt respond any further, there is a good reason. Two Cents

Around 250 lbs usually. 6 inches thick, I don't think so, 2 or 3 inches, yes.

Anonymous wrote:

All I know is that if you ask a pilot or anyone who know about it, they answer with a funny response so they don't have to answer you, or they say it is for the sun... But that is also to not answer you, so it has to be something special ( like the above is).

As you can probably see by now, there are many differing answers to the "Golden Canopy" question, and in all honesty, it's not like we get any formal academics on what the actual reason is. It's one of those things where if a pilot really wanted to know the reason, he could probably go digging through some classified document and find out, but usually we're too busy studying other classified things to spend our time searching for trivia (I call it 'trivia' because it really doesn't matter what its purpose is once we're actually up there flying. It's fixed to the jet and requires no intervention from the pilot for it to serve it's purpose.).

As a result, most of us get our information on its purpose by word-of-mouth, anecdotes, or (heaven forbid) online forums! Shocked

All that to say.... If a pilot gave you a funny answer (or laughed), he may know, or more than likely, he doesn't really know the real answer, but has heard a lot of (sometimes rediculous) speculation and doesn't want to further the rumor mill (or admit that he doesn't know). Laughing

No... I'm quite sure the pilot you spoke with did indeed know what's up and why it's so. The reason he responded the way he did was because that's what he is supposed to do.

Back in the days of the Manhattan Project the employees at Oak Ridge (Where they made the Enriched Uranium) were told that if they were asked what they did at work they were to say "We make the holes they put in Donuts". And if pressed further... Report the contact to the FBI.

s_ellebaut wrote:

I've seen some pictures of F-16's where the canopy had a golden color. Some people are talking about the golden canopy. What's its function? And why do you only see the gold color sometimes? I've even seen pics of a F-16 double seater where one part of the canopy was gold and the other wasn't.

Different colours because of different manufacturers (sierracin, texstar)

NANCYFALCON wrote:

s_ellebaut wrote:

I've seen some pictures of F-16's where the canopy had a golden color. Some people are talking about the golden canopy. What's its function? And why do you only see the gold color sometimes? I've even seen pics of a F-16 double seater where one part of the canopy was gold and the other wasn't.

Different colours because of different manufacturers (sierracin, texstar)

If you are looking at the reduction in frontal RCS you would only need the forward half tinted/coated...
My old trainer in FTD at Nellis told me that the newer jets ( back in 85) had it and that it had to do three things
Keep the cockpit cooler...
Keep the Radiation that the pilot recieves at a lower level (all types)
Make it harder to catch on radar in its frontal aspect...

I kinda believed his explanations as I also asked the then GD tech Reps at Misawa the same question and those were the same answers I got at that time
Could be other reasons too But I am just saying what I remember

I still think its just to look cool...
USAF way in front of the Pimping your ride attitude...

William G

Active Member Joined: Jan 10, 2005 - 07:58 AM Posts: 137

Golden canopy = result of hitting turbulence while using the pilot relief tube.

I bet that answer would keep people from asking the real purpose Wink

DesignAndConquer wrote:

Golden canopy = result of hitting turbulence while using the pilot relief tube.

!

Stefaan wrote:

EA-6Bs have this is well - it shields the cockpit and crew from radiation. Gold is a very dense material with high conductivity, so even an extremely thin layer (so you can see through it) would already be effective. The gold coating would create a "Faraday cage" effect.

On an EA-6B this was very useful since this aircraft could carry up to 5 jamming pods which emitted an enormous amount of energy in the form of radiation.

One would suspect it is mainly applied to F-16CJ/DJs since they would typically operate in a high-radiation environment, but I'm just guessing here.

<a href="f-16_photos_album10-photoakj.html"><img src="PhotoGallery/album10/akj.thumb.jpg"></a>

Click for larger image

Stefaan

The gold layer affects the falcon's radar signature...

naw, it was all about "bling". If was any good at photoshop I'd whip up an F-16 with 24" chrome spinner wheels, rubber band tires, extended burner (fart) can, a big rear wing and a "Viper Racing" decal across the top of the windscreen.... Smile

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boys these golden canopies go way backtry Falcon amu of the 57th wing at nellis circa 81 82. seen em there

Just read through all of the posts. I'll add my Two Cents

Gold Canopies have indeed been around on operational Vipers since the early to mid 80s. I remember seeing some of the first birds to be "golded", from the 56th TTW at MacDill, circa '85 or '86. Homestead got gold canopy birds around the same time.

The function of the gold tint remains classified. If a pilot gave you a misleading, or subject-changing answer, that was the reason.

Indeed, you can't punch out through the glass in the Viper, as you can in the Eagle and the Hawg. In the F-16, the jettisoning of the canopy is actually a necessary part of the sequence initiation. The seat won't fire unless the canopy does. Dash-1 says to pull the canopy jettison handle if it fails to go with the ejection handle.