J-20 5th Gen Fighter Thread VIII

[talonn]

Ever wonder why J-20s are always looking pristine?

 

[siegecrossbow]

They used one-piece canopy on the first few prototypes for the exclusive reason of pissing off people who claimed China can't produce a one-piece canopy.

The new canopy is still one piece. The reinforcement bar is inside the canopy to provide structural support so it can be made thinner.

 

[taxiya]

so back then they didn't have a canopy bow, interesting... Not sure what made them add one later

To reduce weight and distortion by making glass thinner.

Canopy without the frame has to be made very thick especially in the front. This added weight and increased distortion due to thick curvy glass, and of course hard to break it when needed. Adding a frame solves all problems.

 

[Salvationist]

Ever wonder why J-20s are always looking pristine?

Quite a lot of le exposed rivets there. Anyone care to explain? Could it be that RAM coating hasn't been applied or some other reason?

 

[no_name]

Quite a lot of le exposed rivets there. Anyone care to explain? Could it be that RAM coating hasn't been applied or some other reason?

You haven't seen rivets on the F-22 and the F-35?

 

[taxiya]

Quite a lot of le exposed rivets there. Anyone care to explain? Could it be that RAM coating hasn't been applied or some other reason?

If you want to see you can always find it.

Zoom in, rivets are everywhere.

Some people will argue that this is a prototype, but the construction did not change, in production items the rivets are still there just some of them are covered by thick paint or tape.

Production F-35C, about half rivets are covered. The light condition is not ideal to identify areas too bright or too dark.


Why j-20 isn't doing it? We know F-35 uses mostly composite skin which has a very unpleasent electro-static characteristic must be dealt with.

 

[Salvationist]

You haven't seen rivets on the F-22 and the F-35?

I mean I have, I just wanted an explanation in general