why no more eyebrow windows on the 737ng
09-27-2009 | 06:02 PM
#2
seeing the country...
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: 73N A
Those windows aren't required for certification apparently, so Boeing decided to stop putting them in after customers were asking for cost cutting. I think Airtran was the first customer to start the trend (on the 717).
09-27-2009 | 06:13 PM
#5
seeing the country...
Joined: Oct 2006
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From: 73N A
Too true - every plane I've jumpseated on with eyebrow windows has a spare checklist up there, blocking the sun.
09-27-2009 | 06:19 PM
#6
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From: DAL 330
This sounds like an urban legend and I don't know if this is true or not, but my former Navy squadron replaced its C-9s with C-40s, which are highly modified 737-700s. The first couple had the eyebrows but the third did not. When we asked about it we were told that the windows go back to the 1960's when celestial navigation and sextant shots were considered a viable back-up emergency navigation method. The eyebrow windows seem a little small for that purpose but then again I don't know much about celestial navigation or using a sextant. I'm sure some old timers can weigh in on whether this is true or not.
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09-27-2009 | 07:34 PM
#7
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From: sitting at computer keyboard
Here's the press release direct from Boeing:
Boeing Next-Generation 737 Gets a Face-Lift
SEATTLE, Jan. 26, 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] this week rolled out its first 737 without eyebrow windows, the four small windows above the front windshield. In the past the eyebrow windows helped provide better crew visibility, but today's advanced navigation systems have made those windows obsolete. The design change reduces airplane weight by 20 pounds and eliminates approximately 300 hours of periodic inspections per airplane. Retrofit kits to cover eyebrow windows will be available mid-2006 for the in-service 737 fleet.
Boeing: Boeing Next-Generation 737 Gets a Face-Lift
Boeing Next-Generation 737 Gets a Face-Lift
SEATTLE, Jan. 26, 2005 -- Boeing [NYSE:BA] this week rolled out its first 737 without eyebrow windows, the four small windows above the front windshield. In the past the eyebrow windows helped provide better crew visibility, but today's advanced navigation systems have made those windows obsolete. The design change reduces airplane weight by 20 pounds and eliminates approximately 300 hours of periodic inspections per airplane. Retrofit kits to cover eyebrow windows will be available mid-2006 for the in-service 737 fleet.
Boeing: Boeing Next-Generation 737 Gets a Face-Lift
09-27-2009 | 07:39 PM
#8
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From: B744 FO
They might've also been thought to be helpful for formation flight during refueling the aircraft they were originally installed on, the KC-135, from another tanker??
They were definitely not useless, they are wonderful during a circle-to-land, when the circle is constrained by terrain to a turn-to-final in the direction opposite the seat the flying pilot is occupying. That glimpse thru the eyebrow windows is worth a thousand words. But if you don't have an opportunity to put them to use, you might have an opinion that they're useless.
They were definitely not useless, they are wonderful during a circle-to-land, when the circle is constrained by terrain to a turn-to-final in the direction opposite the seat the flying pilot is occupying. That glimpse thru the eyebrow windows is worth a thousand words. But if you don't have an opportunity to put them to use, you might have an opinion that they're useless.
09-27-2009 | 07:48 PM
#9
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Distortion through a thick impact resistant cockpit window would more than likely mess up a sextant shot. The airplanes originally dispatched with navigators all had sextant ports like a blow-hole in the roof of the cockpit. Sometimes there was a tripod to mount the sextant on to steady it under the hole.
09-27-2009 | 07:52 PM
#10
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From: Wings Recentely Cut
They might've also been thought to be helpful for formation flight during refueling the aircraft they were originally installed on, the KC-135, from another tanker??
They were definitely not useless, they are wonderful during a circle-to-land, when the circle is constrained by terrain to a turn-to-final in the direction opposite the seat the flying pilot is occupying. That glimpse thru the eyebrow windows is worth a thousand words. But if you don't have an opportunity to put them to use, you might have an opinion that they're useless.
They were definitely not useless, they are wonderful during a circle-to-land, when the circle is constrained by terrain to a turn-to-final in the direction opposite the seat the flying pilot is occupying. That glimpse thru the eyebrow windows is worth a thousand words. But if you don't have an opportunity to put them to use, you might have an opinion that they're useless.
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