Quote:
Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith
I'm sure this has been asked before but the two biggest questions with any form of canopy are going to be, will this affect the driver's view from the cockpit and exit from the car if there is a crash, especially if the car rolls over?
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What I suggested before BJ, was an air powered ram situated behind the drivers seat that could be operated either by the driver or from outside the cockpit.
Think of a large bottle jack placed behind the seat that can be used to effectively jack the canopy off the car. This would aid in righting an upside down car or pushing a car with a trapped driver off another object.
The actual ram would be like an on board air jack; but with its own air supply; like those used to lift the saloon cars for wheel changes. A regulator would be installed to control the extension speed upon triggering the system..
Earlier in this thread we went over hydrophobic and self cleaning glass, undoubtedly an area which would benefit from F1 involvement.
Could probably engineer a tear off type system too.
Current WEC cars run just fine with windshields in much longer races, and the F1 hydroplanes use windscreens just fine, as posted above, so I don't think that the problems are insurmountable!