Canopy struts

[spicmart]

Why were the struts of German planes so thick compared to Allied ones. Just look at the late Me 109 and the Fw 190?
Pilot view was certainly impeded.

 

[MIflyer]

In the case of the BF-109 the pilot's headrest was part of the canopy structure. No doubt it was intended to provide some measure of protection in case of a turnover mishap. The US preferred to make any such protection part of the fuselage structure. In the case of the P-35, there was enough room in the cockpit that the pilot could let down hid seat back and crawl out through the roomy baggage compartment.

 

[Crimea_River]

The 109 had a very heavy canopy. It's not representative of all "German planes". FW190, Me262, Ju87 generally had no thicker frames than their allied counterparts.

 

[chuter]

On the 109 beginning with the G-1 all odd-numbered variants were pressurized and the heavier canopy framing was designed to carry those loads. For simplicity the unpressurized even-numbered variants had the same canopy framing. The aft canopy section (behind the opening canopy section) did not carry any pressurization load as the armored headrest was replaced by a pressure holding armor plate (with small clear inserts on the side edges) flush with the aft edge of the hinged canopy section.