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Reply With Quotethere ya goOriginally Posted by Phoenix10
How stealthy can a fighter be with canards?
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there ya go
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You could try building it out of radar transparent materials (a poster on another forum who apparently has some science degree told me that it 'could' be done with the same materials one uses for radomes), though that would probably mean one would have to continuously replace said canards on short notice (apparently 'radar transparent' materials aren't ideal for building control surfaces out of).
PSed by the lensman to cover the equipment in cockpit.
I find it strange that they would do this for purposes of covering sensitive technology. You can't learn much of anything about an aircraft's systems or capabilities by simply looking at some big glass displays, control, or other things in the cockpit. Besides, didn't they already release photos of a mockup of the J-20 cockpit (i think they were posted earlier in this thread)? Maybe they are covering up what it DOESN'T have....
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Plus, this is only a prototype, probably not even a LRIP airframe; I can't imagine it would be a fully mission-capable cockpit.
"Yeah. See, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now. Earl explained it to me." - Tremors, 1990
I agree, It's just personal opinion of photographer who covered the cockpit.
I found some intact pictures.
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Last edited by Tomluter; 20 Apr 11, at 10:34.
Interesting... the cockpit area is one of the most radar-reflective portions of an aircraft, and great care must be taken to keep signals from entering, bouncing about, and exiting. This is usually done with metallic materials poured along with the acrylic or whatever they use these days for the canopy material. To radar, such a canopy appears to be like aircraft skin.
Tinted canopies came along with the F-16C in the very early 1980's, when the F-117 was still a black program. The official explanation - "it's for sun glare". We knew that couldn't be the answer, and quickly arrived at the correct reason with a little thought.
In the above photo, it's hard to tell, but it appears that the Chinese canopy is clear. There may be several reasons...
1) It is a prototype and they don't care if the cockpit reflects
2) It is tinted but not showing up well in the photo
3) The Chinese have developed a clear plastic that inhibits radar
Pilots actually do not like tinting, as canopy or visor inhibits the transfer of light, and visual search is degraded a bit. We trained ourselves to patrol with no visor, no sunglasses. It was uncomfortable, but we believed it was advantageous.
Note the smoke/gold tint in the Raptor.
Chogy, my guess is that your #1 is correct. I don't remember seeing the tinted canopies on the YF-22, YF-23, X-35, or X-32. I also haven't seen it on the T-50 PAK-FA yet.
No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas
This is probably my favorite picture of the Raptor, as it shows just how other-worldly it can appear (FYI: this picture is the current lead picture in the wiki article on the Raptor); as you can see in this picture, the canopy has a very golden tint to it. Not sure why it shows up so well in this particular picture, maybe it's just the angle of the sun?
"Yeah. See, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now. Earl explained it to me." - Tremors, 1990
Stich, thats one of my favorites too. Here are 3 great shots of tinting on the F-22 and F-35. The difference in color (gold versus more purple) is interesting.
No One Kicks A$! Without Tanker Gas
Very interesting. I wonder what the difference is in the canopy treatments between the F-22 and the F-35? Obviously, the F-35 treatment is a more advanced coating. I have often thought that the gold canopy is probably more noticeable visually at a distance than a plain clear canopy; nothing like the glint of sunlight off of a highly-reflective canopy to catch your attention.
"Yeah. See, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now. Earl explained it to me." - Tremors, 1990
I'm pretty sure the color variation comes from differing sun angles and lighting. And I do agree, that one pic with the super-gold canopy makes it look like a Cylon or some alien craft.
W/regards to the Chinese bird... having an effective canopy will be essential when they begin RCS testing, an integral part of any program like this. Perhaps they have 2 or 3 teams working separately, and they will be tested in sequence, with the winners having their canopy formulation adopted.
The canopy would also be an excellent way to hide the actual RCS of the jet. In peace time, fly about with a regular canopy, and the RCS will be large. In war or emergency, a quick swap out to a "stealth" canopy will drop the RCS hugely.
Famous YF-22 photo with CLEAR canopy. Lends credence to the "not needed at the prototype stage" theory.
Note also the subtle evolution in shape between prototype and production. This jet looks quite a bit different from the current Raptors.
That wasn't so much a "subtle" redesign as a "major overhaul of the entire airframe."
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