Open cockpits

[Guppy35]

I agree, it'll be a huge investment to impliment at even limited degrees....  But.... Still, in a few years, might be some cool beans to see cracks grow from a hole in your canopy, you hear the crackling, and then suddenly in a flash, BAM the canopy dissapears, maybe you black out instantly for a few seconds or not, but in the meantime the sudden and violent increase in cockpit wind noise leaves you with no doubt what just happened. 

@ Guppy: many canopies (not all, and certainly many could of been a modification) I've seen have a crank so that pilots could open them or close them and leave them set there at a variety of positions in between, depending on what the pilot desired.  It's interesting to note all those pictured in your photos are fully open it apears, perhaps for the photo shoot, or perhaps because maximum ventalation was desired.

I'm sure in the MTO and PTO birds it was for the ventilation.  But I do believe at least to some degree as mentioned by Geoffry Page, guys would lock them open as he did, to make sure he wasn't trapped by a damaged, closed canopy.  I imagine this was not an issue for the later blown canopies, but if you had a framed canopy as the Hurricane did, P40, Wildcat etc, that burning to death in a cockpit trapped inside by a jammed canopy was an issue.  Even the Spit with it's unframed canopy had a crow bar inside for the pilot to be able to break out should the canopy jam so it clearly was on folks mind.

I don't think it's something that would be anything more then eye candy here, but when I saw the topic the first thing I thought of was this painting by Tom Lea showing a pilot from the first Hornet at the Battle of Santa Cruz.  The painting was based on an incident where he managed to get his very shot up bird back down after fighting Japanese birds.  I remembered the damaged open canopy.

[Babalonian]

I'm sure in the MTO and PTO birds it was for the ventilation.  But I do believe at least to some degree as mentioned by Geoffry Page, guys would lock them open as he did, to make sure he wasn't trapped by a damaged, closed canopy.  I imagine this was not an issue for the later blown canopies, but if you had a framed canopy as the Hurricane did, P40, Wildcat etc, that burning to death in a cockpit trapped inside by a jammed canopy was an issue.  Even the Spit with it's unframed canopy had a crow bar inside for the pilot to be able to break out should the canopy jam so it clearly was on folks mind.

I don't think it's something that would be anything more then eye candy here, but when I saw the topic the first thing I thought of was this painting by Tom Lea showing a pilot from the first Hornet at the Battle of Santa Cruz.  The painting was based on an incident where he managed to get his very shot up bird back down after fighting Japanese birds.  I remembered the damaged open canopy.

(Image removed from quote.)

The crowbar in the spitfire cockpits has many useful purposes.  If I recall correctly, in the book for the Spit XIV, there's a jammed landing gear procedure (?) in which the pilot is directed to use it while in flight to rather violently "unjam" or release something. 

[PuppetZ]

nm.

[2ADoc]

Open cockpits in game would be just eye candy, there are other things that should be worked on first.  In real life there is nothing like open cockpits, the sun giving you sunburn, the wind whipping around you tiring your mustache, and pony tail in knots.  The smell of oil, and fresh air, and burning 100LL, the occasional bug to the face.  Just stay away from rain, it hurts.

[Raptor05121]

If a bullet were headed for my head, I would rather a piece of glass deflect/slow it down before it hits me.

[CAP1]

We can do it like the flaps. Have it automatically close the the speed increases.

 not to hijack, but i will anyway.........i hate auto retracting flaps. i'd rather risk suffering damage if i overspeed with flaps extended.

[W7LPNRICK]

I still say Photo Op! 

[MachFly]

not to hijack, but i will anyway.........i hate auto retracting flaps. i'd rather risk suffering damage if i overspeed with flaps extended.

Yeah but the problem is that very few people in AH will actually study all the aircraft limitations for all aircraft. Just way too many numbers.

[CAP1]

Yeah but the problem is that very few people in AH will actually study all the aircraft limitations for all aircraft. Just way too many numbers.

 i would be one of those that wouldn't study the limits. but i have many many extra cartoon lives which i will use to haunt you as i learn when to do such things. it will help me become the annoying pile-it i feel i should be.