Mxsmanic wrote in
:

Marty Shapiro writes:

No more so than the hood of a car extends beyond the front window.
You can't see the ground immediately in front of you, but you can see
the ground in front of you.

How much of the runway can you see from the cockpit?

All but about 3 feet in front of the nose. That's better than 99.99%
of the runway.


The instrument panel is only imposing when you are not a pilot.

Pilots must be extremely tall, then.

No, you simply raise or lower the seat as appropriate.

After a while, it is no more imposing than the "instrument
panel" in your car. Even when you are on an IFR flight, if the
weather conditions are VMC, you've got to look out of the window.
You also have to be able to see in front of you to taxi to the
runway.

At the viewing angles I see for small craft (particular those that
don't sit level on the ground), it should be practically impossible to
see much of the runway.

True for tail draggers, but in a tricycle gear aircraft you have an
excellent view of the runway.



--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)