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As shown in the images below, what are these wavy lines on the canopy of the aircraft? Do these lines have any utility?

These are mostly captured in videos of cockpit views of carrier-based aircraft.

enter image description here

enter image description here

fooot
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Raj
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    That top picture is the view from a T45. The DET cord is designed to rain molten shards of glass down on the pilot, preferably into the neck and eyes (always use your visor!). I suppose it also has the secondary benefit of weakening the canopy for escape during the ejection sequence, but we were always under the impression that if you pulled the handle you were gonna get burned. – Rhino Driver Feb 22 '15 at 17:29
  • What type of jets are those in the bottom picture? – dalearn Dec 15 '17 at 21:47
  • @dalearn Looks like a BAE Hawk. – Colin Feb 14 '18 at 15:49
  • The one on the right is a BAe Hawk but the one on the left is the Dassault Alpha Jet operated by QinetiQ. – Adrian Feb 15 '18 at 08:49

2 Answers2

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It is an explosive cord which helps to crack the canopy (pdf!) before the ejection seat has to do this all by itself. When ejection is commanded, the harness is tightened and the canopy is shattered, and only then the real ejection starts. Earlier designs would blow the full canopy off, but this takes longer than shattering it, especially when the canopy is large.

Some seats have their own canopy breakers, but thick, tough canopies which are needed for flying at high dynamic pressure and for surviving bird strikes would slow the seat down too much. The F-16 canopy is 12mm thick in the area above the pilot.

They are used widely for both land- and carrier-based aircraft, and modern designs try to make them less obvious. The F-35 canopy uses just one line down the middle.

Peter Kämpf
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    Are these chords specific to carrier-based a/cs or I just happened to view the few right ones? i.e. does this class of a/cs need this more than others? – Raj Feb 20 '15 at 20:35
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    Is that a Chord, Chord, Cord or Cord? :) – FreeMan Feb 20 '15 at 20:46
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    @FreeMan: Thanks, fixed it. Or is it a rope? – Peter Kämpf Feb 20 '15 at 21:01
  • @Raj: It could be that the birdstrike requirements for carrier-based aircraft are more demanding, but I don't know anything about this. They are used widely, and the BAe Hawk in your lower picture is mostly used from land. – Peter Kämpf Feb 20 '15 at 21:08
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    FYI, it's called MDC, Miniature Detonating Cord. – Simon Feb 20 '15 at 21:14
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    @Simon … or FLSC - Flexible Linear Shaped Charge. – Peter Kämpf Feb 20 '15 at 21:16
  • @Raj - generally, most 0/0 capable ejection-seat capable aircraft have them. Many use these explosives to fracture the canopy prior to seat rocket booster ignition – SSumner Feb 21 '15 at 03:19
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    If it's strong enough to shatter the canopy, how is it safe for the pilot? – Vader Feb 22 '15 at 15:03
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    @Vader: The explosive sits on the outside, in grooves cut into the outer acrylic layer of the canopy. The linked PDF has a drawing explaining the details. – Peter Kämpf Feb 22 '15 at 16:38
  • Its so you don't get dead Geese. – Aron Feb 22 '15 at 18:54
  • @Vader Its a shape charge that explodes away from the cockpit. The actual MDC sits on the inside of the canopy (you can touch it) in the T45 you have pictured above. Generally what we were told is that the sequence is so rapid that you will invariably travel through shards of molten glass as the canopy fractures above you. – Rhino Driver Feb 23 '15 at 08:35
  • @Vader it's a balance of risk, it's safer than breaking your neck on a solid canopy or remaining in an aircraft that's about to crash. – Adrian Feb 15 '18 at 08:53
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For completeness, there are also several other mechanisms to make sure the pilot does not "punch through" the canopy, which would likely be fatal.

As well as the detonating cord, many canopies unlock at the front when the ejection handle is pulled. The airflow gets under the lip of the canopy and tears it off the aircraft. The hinges at the back are designed to break in this scenario. Other canopies have explosive charges which detach the canopy. The Harrier, amongst other examples, might require the pilot to eject at zero or low forward airspeed so utilises detonating cords to make sure that the canopy is shattered.

Some seats also have a rail which extends upwards at the start of the sequence, the top of the rail being designed to shatter the canopy. The seat then travels up the rail. The seat itself might also have "canopy buster" spikes fitted at the top such that if the canopy does not detach or shatter, the seat will break through the canopy and the pilot will not be too shredded by the broken plexi-glass.

The ejection sequence is carefully controlled with mechanical timers which, although everything happens fast, make sure that the pilot does not hit the canopy and is ejected clear of the aircraft. It's very complex, with a sequence of pins being withdrawn, timers started, rockets fired and so on but at least one manufacturer, Martin Baker, has a proud record of never having had a seat failure other than for user or maintenance error.

Simon
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