Bubble canopy

This article is for aircraft bubble canopies. For vehicle "bubble" canopies, see Vehicle canopy. For other canopies, see Canopy.

Closeup of the front view of an F-16 Fighting Falcon showing the bubble canopy

A bubble canopy is a canopy made like a soap bubble, which attempts to provide 360° vision to the pilot.

History

Bubble canopies have been in use since World War II. The British had already developed the "Malcolm hood", which was a bulged canopy, but the British Miles M.20 was one of the first aircraft designs to feature a true bubble canopy. Although it never went into production the concept of the bubble canopy was utilised on other British aircraft, such as the Hawker Typhoon and Tempest. It was also fitted to the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt amongst others.

Purpose

The purpose of a bubble canopy is to give a pilot a much wider field-of-view than flush canopies, such as those seen on P-47s and early models of the P-51, which left a conspicuous blind spot behind the pilot that enemy pilots could take advantage of to sneak up on an aircraft.

Bubble canopy increases the pilot's field of view at the expense of rear armor of the cockpit, making the pilot more susceptible to enemy gun fire from the rear. This is less of a concern in modern jet fighters as most aerial combats are settled with air to air missiles from long distances, and nearly all have some kind of radar to catch those sneaking up from behind.

Examples

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  F-86 Sabre in flight

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  MiG-29 on the ground with canopy open

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  Closeup of a Su-27 cockpit with IRST system

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  Miles M.20 showing the bubble canopy