Having A Bad Day In An F-22

[mrhenniger]

paul, what is the purpose of the gold??? some pentagon big wig flying the f-22?? with gold currently at near $700 bucks an ounce i really must question it!!!

I would guess it is a measure to reduce electromagnetic emissions and/or to prevent electromagnetic interference on the system in the cockpit. It is probably to prevent emissions. It is a stealth aircraft, and you would not want to help defeat that by leaking out all kinds of different radio frequencies.

Mike

[Paul Krumrei]

from what I remember, the canopy with gold flakes tinted the canopy and helped absorb radar reflecting at it.

[systemofadown1162]

Thanks guys. See I told you 2 very dumb questions. I have noticed the canopy is tinted is that because of the gold flakes or they just think it looks sweet.

[Paul Krumrei]

See my post above on the tinting

[Jack Cook]

from what I remember, the canopy with gold flakes tinted the canopy and helped absorb radar reflecting at it

This was the thinking back when the EA-6 Prowler was designed. It turned
out to be a complete waste of a lot of money but it sure does look cool.

[Randy Haskin]

This was the thinking back when the EA-6 Prowler was designed. It turned
out to be a complete waste of a lot of money but it sure does look cool.

That's because the prowler has the radar cross-section of the state of Montana. In a low-observable aircraft, this is a MUCH bigger deal.

I fly with an ex-117 pilot in my squadron currently that said that, without the coating on the glass, the pilot's HGU-55 helmet was a bigger radar reflector than the rest of the aircraft (this is on the F-117).

[RickH]

I was under the impression that on the EA-6 the gold covered canopy was to keep the electronic emissions OUT of the cockpit. Because of the tremendous power of the Prowler's jamming suite they were worried about irradiating the crew.

[Jack Cook]

I was under the impression that on the EA-6 the gold covered canopy was to keep the electronic emissions OUT of the cockpit. Because of the tremendous power of the Prowler's jamming suite they were worried about irradiating the crew.

That was the thinking at the time. But the egg heads were wrong. When
my step-dad was in the Stingers (VAQ-136) the stripes on the wasp insignia were painted gold instead off yellow.

[Paul Krumrei]

Here is the updated information on the incident.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=20396

The F-22 has gold within the canopy to absorb the radar as I discussed in the other posting, this is consitant with the B-2 bomber as well as the F-117.

The F-16 has the same layer of gold within it, BUT the F-16's canopy is also created using layers, instead of the one-piece approach in the F-22.

The one-piece design is also to reduce the weight of the canopy, previously layered which caused more weight, like in the F-16.

I am not sure the exact, only Uncle Sam would know, about how much actualy gold is used within the process of cranking out a one-piece canopy for the F-22.

[tom d. friedman]

being in the jewely business i'm curious as to the actual $$ amount of the gold sans any other canopy components. any clues or ball park amounts out their in wix land??

[chico]

The F-22 has gold within the canopy to absorb the radar as I discussed in the other posting, this is consitant with the B-2 bomber as well as the F-117.

I would think the gold inlay would be there to help create a faraday cage, going along with all the other EM shielding that's present in the cockpit. Keep the bad e-noise out and the good signal in. I can't see how adding a reflective metal improves radar absorbtion. Maybe it helps scatter the beam, but you're talking about a very small amount of actual gold.

Next time somebody's in an F-22 cockpit, close the canopy and let me know if your cell phone works

One of the Vegas casino / hotels makes a big deal about using gold to tint the glass. You'd probably have better luck finding out how much gold they used, rather than trying to dig out specs on the F-22 or the F-117.

[tom d. friedman]

i hope nobody melts a canopy!!! they'll be laughing all the way to the bank!! i guess you can liken it to panning for gold 21st century style!!