Thanks for the pics, Sprocket!
Originally posted by K West
How's that "6" view? A lot better than one would think isn't it?
Well, it is good if you have the canopy open! I had it closed, and that convinced me that the 6-view from the Hellcat is crap indeed.
I took a video from the inside, from left-6 to right-6 -view. It shows the crappy 6 view pretty well, I'll post a shot from the video. Even when leaning forward and putting my head against the glass, I couldn't see the root of the elevator/horizontal stabilizer. No way to see the rear fuselage or vertical stabilizer at all. The headrest/armor is really high and the high-6 view is poor. One of Sprocket's pics shows me sitting in the wildcat, looking back to 5 oclock.
Last summer I sat in a finnish 109 G-6 with the "Erla Haube" canopy. The view to the rear sector is MUCH better than in the kitty, in all respects. The head armor is a glass panel, which gives a much less restricted rear view than in the kitty. Also, the fuselage of the hellcat is much wider than that of the 109, which plays a big role in this. The kitty's rear fuselage covers a bigger area, creating a larger blind spot.
Btw, I knew that the P47 and F4U are big, but I was really surprised of the huge size of the F4F and F6F! Compared to the 109 or P40, they are massive!
Camo