I do not understand the reason for false canopies. I think they look severly out of place.
Why do they use them?
To confuse the enemy. It makes it tough for the enemy to know whether a plane is coming or going.
Regards,
it gives a false clue as to the orientation of the aircraft. anyone trying to fire at it may misjudge their targeting lead, or turn in a dogfight.
In a fight where you are actually close enough to see your enemy, generally a mile or less, you usually only get glimpses of your opponent. Think back to the movie “Top Gun” when they showed the A-4 going by from INSIDE the F-14 not when the chase plane was behind both of them. That gives you an idea of how quick things are moving. The reason for the false canopy is that it can confuse your opponent into thinking you’re turning into him, which would make him want to turn away from you, when you are really turning away from, which would make him want to chase you. Even though he may only be indecisive for a couple of seconds it could mean the difference between a letter to your family or a nice shiny red star on the side of your airplane.
ok… in a dog fight false canopies. good idea. but on an A-10?
Same concept, except when the gunners on the ground look at it, they don’t know its orientation and cannot predict what direction he will bank after a straffing or low level bomb run. I used to work the Hogs. One of teh best aircraft the Air Force has and they want to get rid of it. Nothing can ever replace it.
Eagle is right on the money with the reason why some planes have false canopies. When my outfit VMFA-(AW) 242 got their factory new F-18D’s back in 1990, the painted canopies were on some of them.
docmcbride: I would loose alot of respect for the AF the day they let go off the hog. Im a ground pounder and personaly owe a hog driver a couple drinks of his choice should I ever find out who was flying the night I called for support. I had expected an apache, cobra or even another nearby ground unit for an assist but in came a hog driver and dropped a canister of napalm right in the pickle barrel effecively elliminating my problem (even if he did singe my eyebrows, thats what I get for wanting to watch 
Nothing can touch a hog for up close and personal work. Apaches are great in thier element but have a bad habbit of turning into ducks in a turkey shoot from ground fire. I hope the if the AF does finaly get rid of the Hog the Army is smart enough to pick em up and maybe even snag a few of the drivers in the process Makes me wonder why the Marines dont fly Hogs… Maybe something to do operating from an aircraft carrier?
Now that would be sweet if the Navy and Marines used the Hog.
You’d think that the Warthog would be a good addition to the USMC inventory, it’s rough and short field capable, right? Wouldn’t it be a good compliment to the Hornets and Widowmakers? Speaking as a former 0311, I wouldn’t mind knowing there was a pair of hogs on call for some CAS is things went sour…