Open cockpits in the rain?

[Hauksbee 103]

Does the windscreen deflect rain drops around the cockpit, or do you still get hit in the face by rain drops going 100 mph? As on a motorcycle.

[Olham 164]

Well, they flew even faster than 100 mp/h, and so I guess the raindrops did not hit their faces.

But then they were also quite masked, when they flew in bad weather, as this film shows

(towards the end):

 

[+Gepard 10,251]

I guess, that the upper wings were a good rainprotection too. If you drive, fly, with 100 kph the rain comes not straight down from above.

[JFM 18]

I have VERY limited, non-WW1-type, open-cockpit experience. Based on it, there wasn't very much wind when sitting behind the windshield--hence its name. Stick your head out to the side and it's like sticking your head out of a car window while driving 100mph. But sitting in the cockpit normally, I could have easily lit a cigarette had I wanted to. Still, some rain gets in. As Ltn Joachim von Ziegesar recalled: "The raindrops glide in light threads from the blue wings and cloud our goggle lenses."

[Hauksbee 103]

But sitting in the cockpit normally, I could have easily lit a cigarette had I wanted to. Still, some rain gets in. As Ltn Joachim von Ziegesar recalled: "The raindrops glide in light threads from the blue wings and cloud our goggle lenses."

That's encouraging. I have seen pics of the face masks before, but my understanding of those is that they were to ward off frost bite. i noticed that when Göring was getting out of the cockpit at the end of Olham's clip, he peeled off his goggles, then the flying helmet, then a balaklava-like hood, and then appeared to remove a set of ear-plugs. Were ear-plugs at all common? Were WWI planes that loud?

[JFM 18]

I don't know if the plugs were common but after many sorties/hours of sitting behind the engine and in close proximity to machine guns, I imagine it could "add up" get loud. Perhaps headaches would be involved eventually. My primary flight training was in a Cessna 152 (110 hp) that didn't have an intercom, and we wore earplugs. Without them it was loud, and you had to shout to be heard, but it wasn't deafening. But we rarely flew more than 1.5 hours. All day of that, though, and firing two machine guns a foot or two away with no protection would get old fast. At least for me. I made the mistake of firing a MAC-10 without hearing protection (my ignorance was such that I thought the suppressor would make it "quiet") and it was louder than $#$& and made my ears ring. Soldiers must be half deaf when they come home.

[JimAttrill 24]

I suppose that the open cockpit was normal in those days as just about everything was open - bikes, motor bikes, horses, drivers of wagons and even most cars.   Even later in the 20s when they brought out passenger aircraft very often the passengers sat inside but the pilot sat out in the rain.  I think closed cockpits were for 'wussies'    It wasn't until the Gloster Gladiator of the late thirties that the RAF got a fighter with an enclosed cockpit and many pilots didn't like it and flew with the canopy open.  You couldn't do that with an Me109 of course as the canopy opened sideways but the RAF always had rearward sliding canopies. 

 

(and if you read of the He111 it seems the pilot had to land it with his head poking out of the top - most strange). 

[Buddy1998 2]

Interesting discussion. I wonder if there were other compounded effects that could happen in rain like goggles getting fogged or even hiding behind that windscreen without a wiper? I can't drive at 100mph in the rain without a wiper.

[Olham 164]

I can't drive at 100mph in the rain without a wiper.

 

Once you had a wiper, you can't live without one - they didn't know any better.

They also had no heating in the cockpit - and at 15.000 feet it must be damn cold.

Nor did they have oxygen masks - nowadays they wouldn't let you fly up there without one.

[JFM 18]

Re: cold, some planes were better than others. The Albatros D-types, for instance. With no firewall and the engine a couple feet away, residual heat made its way into the cockpit. Other planes, like the DH2, were notoriously cold since the engine was behind the pilot. Not to say it still wouldn't be cold for an Alb pilot. With an average lapse rate of 3.5F per 1000 feet, when 60 degrees at takeoff it'd be -3 F at 18,000. But with some residual heat, being shielded from the wind, and bundled up in an acre of fabric, they dealt with it. Kind of like winter for Hasse!

 

I didn't fly in rain much but I never could see anything out front when I did, if the rain was heavy. I flew looking out the side windows. Light rain wasn't so bad.

 

BTW, where do you live, Buddy1998? Here in Naples, if I drove 100mph in the rain several other cars and I would be flaming wreckage!

[Burning Beard 14]

I really think the size and shape of the windscreen is a major factor.  My limited experience involves convertible cars only. In my old Bugeye with a short windscreen my hair would blow forward like the wind came from behind, however in my current car my hair hardly moves at all, though on cold mornings you can feel the wind coming from behind in the middle of the car.

Of course the bugeye (Austin Healy Sprite MK1) was pretty small and in the rain I would actually it hit my forehead, but I am pretty tall. Also, I would remove the boot around the gear shift to get extra heat from the engine.

 

Beard

[Dutch_P47M 9]

Here this car is know as frog-eye.  But it is quite common on some old motorcycles that had a aftermarket plastic wind screens to protect you against the cold and rain, some models did have a venting port to disable the vacuum.  I have notice on some foto's also a round hole in the wind screen from the plane so maybe for the same effect, like the venting port in the wind screen of a motorcycle. 

Edited November 9, 2015 by Dutch_P47M

[Buddy1998 2]

BTW, where do you live, Buddy1998? Here in Naples, if I drove 100mph in the rain several other cars and I would be flaming wreckage!

 

I apologize that I missed your interesting reply. I am from Egypt. We drive crazy (rain and dry) and within inches of one another almost like India.

[Olham 164]

I am from Egypt. We drive crazy (rain and dry) and within inches of one another almost like India.

 

Mmuahahahahahaaa!!!

[Hauksbee 103]

I apologize that I missed your interesting reply. I am from Egypt. We drive crazy (rain and dry) and within inches of one another almost like India.

That reminds me of my Chinese friends in downtown Taipei, Taiwan.

[JFM 18]

I was unfamiliar with Egyptian driving so I looked for some YouTube videos. Looked worse than even Dallas. But at least it wasn't as bad as some of those Saudi driving videos!

[JimAttrill 24]

I remember being stopped by Saudi cops in 1975 for a 'safety' check.  The fact that the car had no wipers and the windscreen and headlamps were sandblasted were not an issue.   The lights and indicators were not tested.   But the hooter had to work

[JFM 18]

Stumbled on this comment last night regarding a flight test report for the FE.8: "Wind screen fitted is efficient and goggles can be dispensed with."

 

From RAF FE8, Windsock Datafile 74, JM Bruce, Albatros Publications Ltd, 1999, p.4.

[Olham 164]

Ah, that is TRUE info - thx Jim!

[Hauksbee 103]

Stumbled on this comment last night regarding a flight test report for the FE.8: "Wind screen fitted is efficient and goggles can be dispensed with."

Now that's efficient design!

[Typhoon 5]

Next time I see one of our Stearman pilots I'll ask him about the windscreen and the effects of the rain

[Hauksbee 103]

Sounds great, Tony. Thanks.

[Olham 164]

Good idea, Tony; see you!