Bubble canopy

The British Miles M.20 was amongst the first aircraft designs to feature a true one-piece sliding bubble canopy.

Subsequently, Malcolm hood-style canopies were fitted to the North American P-51 Mustang and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, amongst other aircraft.

One of the more prominent external differences between the ground-attack orientated Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the later British Aerospace Sea Harrier, a navalised fighter derivative of the former, was the adoption of an elevated cockpit within a bubble canopy, granting superior exterior visibility to the pilot.

[8] The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon also adopted a frameless bubble canopy in conjunction with a raised and reclined seat that granted unobstructed forward and upward vision.

[10][11] Bubble canopies were also incorporated into the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor[12] and the Eurofighter Typhoon, both being fighters oriented towards the aerial supremacy role.

[citation needed] The open-cockpit design combat aircraft of World War I had narrow fuselages, which often were not tall enough to block visibility to the rear, especially with seating positions that generally elevated the pilot's head well above the cockpit's edges.

[citation needed] However, as speed continued to increase, it became necessary to enclose cockpits – and this, in turn, streamlined aircraft so that they were faster still.