Eli5: why do planes not have their windshield one the bottom half?

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If you look at planes they allways have their windshield go from horizon to 45 degrees or more above the horizon. Why is it not the other way around? There is way more to see and be aware of beneath the plane than above. So why do they not do this?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

When you are flying it is what is in front of you that you care about because that is the direction you are moving and you can see enough up and down. If the aircraft is not moving primarily forward but down you are no longer in controlled flight but have stalled and fallen down. You need to regain control as fast as possible because you know what is below you, the ground. It is not that different to a car where when you drive you to need to look in front so you have time to avid something if below you it is too late.

For landing, you need to see the ground but it is quite flat and the visibility you have is enough. Look at for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhUcNh5_UPE and you can see that you have good visibility in front of you. Below the windows, you have all the instruments you alos need to see.

That is for most aircraft there is an exception like the Concorde that had a nose that could be title down for takeoff and landing. https://airwaysmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Concorde_landing_Farnborough_Fitzgerald.v2.png

If you look back in time propeller aircraft often has visibility problem on the ground. Look at something like a WWII fighter that had two wheels in front and a single in the back that resulted in the nose pointing upwards. With them, you often traced on the ground in an S shape pattern and looked bedside the engine.

Helicopter do move directly up and down. So the have window both directly above the pilot https://www.huey.co.uk/img/huey-home.jpg and in the floor infront of the pilot https://i.stack.imgur.com/vmwq3.jpg Windows like that is not required for airplanes because the do not move directly up or down

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