Thank you.

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 WORLD CLASS PRODUCTS FOR THE DEFENSE AND TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRIES

F-16 Transparency Development

Presented to
Allied Weight Engineers

24th Texas Regional Conference

15 September 2000
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 Topics

• Introduction to Texstars, Inc.

• Introduction to the F-16 Transparency
• F-16 Transparency Development
• Conclusion

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 Introduction to Texstars
• Texstars’ mission is to provide high-quality
products, on-time delivery, exemplary customer
service, and superior technical support to
aerospace and defense customers worldwide.
• Founded 1946
• 275 Employees
• 275,000 square feet of manufacturing space
located in Grand Prairie, Texas.

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 Texstars Markets & Products

• Markets
– Aerospace and Defense
– Mass Transit
• Products
– Composite Products
– Molded Products
– Aircraft Transparencies

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 Composite Products

• Aircraft ducts
– Boeing, Bombardier
• Structural and non-structural panels
– Boeing, McDonnell Douglas
• Mass transit railcar components
– SFO, Washington, DC

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 Molded Products

• Aircraft ducts and housings

– Lockheed, Saab, Bell Helicopter
• Night vision goggle housings
• Ground support equipment
– Covers for jet engine inlet, air intake
• B-777 wing end caps

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 Aircraft Transparencies
• Canopies: F-16, F-15, F-14
• Windshields: A-10, E-2C, F-4, F-14, F-111, F-
117, F-5/T-38, T-37, B-1B, AH-1W
• Special: B-2 PTPS (“glare” shield)
• Commercial aircraft transparencies
– Cabin windows, wingtip lenses, flight deck windshields
• Advanced Transparency Systems
– F-22/JSF type systems

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Introduction to the F-16
Transparency

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 A Little History
• F-16 Production started in the late ’70s.
• One of the most successful fighter programs
in terms of number produced and meeting
performance expectations.
• Texstars was the original transparency
source when production began. Texstars
and competitors have produced well over
10,000 transparencies over the life of this
program.
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 What Defines the
Transparency?
• The Requirements
– Shape – Unchanged
– Thickness – Unchanged
– Interchangeability – Unchanged
– Weight – Unchanged
– Optics – Changed for greater performance
– Coatings – Changed for greater performance
– Bird-strike – Changed for greater performance
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 How Do You Increase Bird-
strike Resistance?
• Increase thickness
• Change materials
• Optimize the cross-section

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Transparency Birdstrike
Resistance

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 Transparency Weight

• Weight & Balance

– Maturing systems and CG shifts
• Thrust to weight
– Maturing systems gain weight, but get a bigger
engine
• Emergency Egress
– This is what it is all about

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Canopy Assembly

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 Emergency Egress
• The plastic transparency is not cut or blown
apart.
• The complete canopy assembly separates
from the aircraft.
• The canopy is removed with rocket motors.
• The rocket motors will only lift so much
mass.
• This is the driver for transparency weight.
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 The Weight vs Performance
Problem
• If transparency requirements are
unchanged, with the minor exception of
Optics and Coatings, how do you increase
birdstrike performance from: a 4-lb bird at
350 kts. to a 4-lb bird at 550 kts. without
significantly increasing weight?

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 Monolithic 350 kt.

• Manufactured
Abrasion Resistant Coating

until 1983.
• ¾” monolithic
polycarbonate.
3/4" Monolithic Polycarbonate

• 4-lb 350 kt.

• Typical weight
Abrasion Resistant Coating
133 lbs.

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 Laminated 350 kt.

• Still being
manufactured
OML/Airstream 0.150" Mil-P-5425 Acrylic

• Acrylic -
0.055" TPU Interlayer

Polycarbonate
• 4-lb 350 kt.
0.530" Polycarbonate

IML/Inboard

Abrasion Resistant Coating

• Typical weight
123 lbs.

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 High Speed Impact

• Catastrophic brittle failure. The bird

punches a hole.
• The canopy rejects the bird, but the
deflection hits the pilot in the head.
• The canopy initially rejects the bird, but the
transparency fails on the rebound due to a
notch received during impact with the
HUD.
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 HUD Location

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 Laminated 550 kt.

• Manufacture
Abrasion Resistant Coating
started in 1995
OML/Airstream
0.523" Polycarbonate • Laminated
0.025" TPU Interlayer
polycarbonate.
IML/Inboard 0.190" Spall Polycarbonate • 4-lb 550 kt.
• Typical weight
127 lbs.
Abrasion Resistant Coating

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 Conclusion

• Through the use innovative thinking the

birdstrike performance of the F-16 Canopy
Assembly has been increased significantly
without increasing the weight of the system.

• The 550 kt birdstrike performance matches

the “real world” flight profile of the aircraft.

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ISO 9001
 Thank You

Thank you.

T E X S T A R S, I N C.
TEL: 972.647.1366  FAX: 972.641.2800
www.texstars.com
ISO 9001