Why are the windows on the cockpit so small?

Question

isn't hard for pilots to look out of them. they should make the windows bigger

Answer 1

First of all they are ok the pilots and second of all they don't have to always look outside when travailing that's why there auto pilot and radar to help them to.

Answer 2

SC, the windows are large enough. A dime, held close enough to your eye can block out the whole sky, so two cents could block out everything if they are close enough. The same thing holds true in reverse. A moderate-sized window close enough to a pilot enables them to see a great deal. Modern aircraft design enables the crew to see what they need to see. The windows in commercial aircraft are larger than they appear.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 3

Because the pilots can be as near as they want to them.

No, it isn't hard to see out of them.

Answer 4

Actually, the visibility from the cockpit on most aircraft is excellent in front and to the sides of the aircraft. The relatively small size allows the glass to be made very strong, not only to handle the force of pressurization, but to withstand a bird strike at high speed. While most birds do not fly above a couple thousand feet, you might be surprised to learn that crows have been spotted 25,000 feet (5 miles) above the ground. Even a 1 pound bird can do a lot of damage if you're flying at several hundred mph, so strength is the key issue. Larger panes of glass just wouldn't be strong enough.

Answer 5

Everything on an aircraft is all about strengh to wieght ratio's. The windows are a very critical part of the airframe when the aircraft pressurizes at altitude. They need to be very strong in order to keep from blowung out. If they had large surface area's they would not be strong enough to withstand the pressure of pressurizing the aircraft. Hope that made sense and answered your question.

Answer 6

pilots of commercial airplanes are always on an Instrument flight rules  or IFR flight plan. This means they rely primarily on the Air Traffic Control people on the ground and their instruments to direct them. They do not need to see as much outside as someone flying Visual flight rules for example.

another issue is the pressure difference. The cabin of commercial airliners are pressurized to about the equivalent of the pressure found at 8,000 feet. The airplane itself flies much higher to be more efficient, anywhere from 28,000 to 43,000 feet. The pressure difference between 8,000 and 35,000 feet is very great. The air inside would want to escape outside to the lower pressure. Making windows bigger would increase the chance that if the window was damaged,  it could fail completely and an explosive decompression would result. Not to mention they would need to make the entire window thicker to withstand the perssure difference, which means increasing weight, a deadly enemy in the airline industry.

Its also why the passenger's windows are also small and rounded.

another reason is a larger window surface means a bird strike that will break the window is much more likely. The window itself isn't crucial but if the bird or debris hits the pilot, possibly in the eye, you would have a problem.

it is occasionally hard for pilots to look out of them, when they need to, but it isn't difficult to the point of dangerous. The airplane can only fly in one direction and that is forward. They have impeccable view out of the front and some out of the sides. It isn't a problem. for traffic avoidance, they have TCAS and ATC, so collision is also unlikely. The human eye can't pick up a plane going right at you until it is too late anyway. (I think a report said that you would have only 3 second warning if you were relying on your eyes to spot an oncoming plane at 500 knots)

Answer 7

Just to clarify a huge piece of misinformation -- whether flying VFR or IFR, if you are able to see out the window, you are required to see and avoid other traffic.

AeroMexico flight 498 collided with an intruding Piper Archer, largely due to failure of either pilot to see and avoid the other. The construction of the support pillars and windows in the DC9 cockpit were likely a factor.

Again, US regulations require all pilots to practice "see and avoid" when in VMC, whether flying VFR or IFR. See, for example, FAR 91.113(b).

Answer 8

So the pilots can't sneak out.  

Answer 9

Actually the flight deck windshields and side windows are of quite adequate size.  They look small from the outside because your eye is comparing them to the whole nose of the airplane, so that they look like a tiny little slit.  From the inside, they provide a lot more area of vision than do the windows of a car.

The flight deck crew look outside the windows much more than some people believe.  Even when flying IFR with all the electronics set up, the crew are responsible for seeing and avoiding traffic.  And out there is where the world is.

Most answerers are mistaken in their guesses about what goes on up front in an airliner.  An autopilot does not fly an airplane, but only reduces the flight crew's workload in certain situations.  Radar is used for terminal and enroute surveillance and for weather avoidance.  Radar does not replace the pilots' eyesight, and it is not used in navigation.

And so on.  There are many common blunders that people make on here by trying to show off their knowledge of aviation.

But the bottom line is, the windows are big enough.  Go to airliners.net and look at some of the cockpit photographs.

Answer 10

Cockpit windows and windscreen look small in relationship to the over all nose assembly but they're quite adequate in flight.  They're near useless for positioning or clearance on the ground, especially the 747, but that's a matter of position not size.

The Radar in Aircraft is essentially for weather and pilots do have to keep vigilance of their airspace at all times.

Most of the answers are logical but I'm astounded at blunders like, "An autopilot does not fly an airplane, but only reduces the flight crew's workload in certain situations."  That's one of the the dumbest statements I've seen here.  

Modern Autopilots are complex, three-axis flight control devices that can divide a flight into taxi, take-off, ascent, level, descent, approach and landing phases. Autopilots exist that automate all of these flight phases except the taxiing!  

An autopilot-controlled landing on a runway and controlling the aircraft on rollout (i.e. keeping it on the centre of the runway) is known as a CAT IIIb landing or Autoland, available at many major airports', especially those subject to adverse weather phenomena such as fog.

Answer 11

They don't like to see the crash coming any more than you do.

Modern commercial jets are largely flown by electronics, radar, and telemetry have taken the place of visual flying.  They fly in bad weather and at night.  

We are not far from the day, if we are not already there, where the windows will be nothing more than something to give he pilot a view.  

I have been told, though I'm not a pilot so I don't know if this is true or not, that modern planes are so automated that the pilot could sleep through the entire flight including take off and landing, waking only to greet the passengers as they leave the plane.

Answer 12

They're really not that small. They provide enough visibility for the pilots to do their job.

They probably aren't bigger because:

1) The windows in the cockpit have to be strong enough to hold back the pressure inside the cabin.

At high altitudes that can be a very significant amount of pressure - say about 9 PSI. (which doesn't seem like a lot until you do the math. -- a 2 foot square window would be holding back 2800 pounds of pressure!)

2) They have to be able to survive the impact of birds hitting the window. Again this doesn't sound so significant until you think of a 28 pound bird impacting a window at 500 mph. --that's a lot of energy!

Answer 13

true but pilots can see out of them and even thoe it looks small they actually aint its to do with the weight and mass of the aircraft is the windows get to big then more pressure would strain the aircraft