DV window
 

Short and sweet: why is the 'DV' window so called? What does DV stand for? I can think of one or two things, but I'd like to know a definitive answer. You know how these things can pop into your head and bug you. Cheers...

Direct Vision

Mike W

Demist/Vent ?

Or Dispose (of) Vomit ?

Direct Ventilation Window

Open it and you get ventilation straight into the cockpit

Yep, it's direct ventillation...works well at 100kts aswell!

Chaps,

It's Direct Vision - honest!

Kingy

Damn Venturi!

Make sure all your lose papers are secure before you open it, or you will find out why?:O

I vote for 'Direct Vision'...

Although I was just browsing through the Arrow2 POH and it calls it a 'Storm Window' :confused: Do you open it in a storm, close it in a storm, puke out of it in a storm or what?

Makes it easier to close the main door in the air when you realise that you fogot to shut it properly:D

Cherio
EA

I did a few hours on a Warrior last year and the type instructor called it a "Direct Vision" window

So if you dont look out of it does that mean you have "Indirect Vision"?

I use it for photo's with 2nd stage flap and 2100 rpm, works a treat!

I used to fly with a chap who always smoked small cigars on the flight deck. I blessed the designer who came up with a DV window that could be opened just a crack and held on the latch, at 150kts. It acted as an excellent extraction system for unwanted (from my perspective) cigar smoke. I suspect had we not had this feature flight deck vis would have soon got pretty "indirect"..........

I thought it was called a Direct Vision window because you could look through it and land the plane if the windscreen misted or froze up. (thats what my instructor told me) It gives you one more chance of landing if it all goes pears.

Obviously this would require some side slip and craning of the neck in the piper versions. Must try it next time.

Didn't someone who got a windscreen full of oil on take off use it to land the plane at Barton some 10 ish years ago.

I also recall stories of glider pilots getting frozen canopies in flight necessitating the use of the DV panel to land.

Anyway whether or not its true it sounds better than a clear prop window.

Direct Vision sounds good to me. Thanks for the replies! So far, I've only used it to shout 'clear prop' out of, but that's another thread...

I've usually heard it called a storm window in Piper aircraft, as someone else has said above, and would love to know why!? I've also heard it called DV, and the suggestions that its a "worst case" way to see something outside if the windscreen is obscured for whatever reason... but I think they're having a laugh if they seriously reckon you could successfully fly or, better yet, land an aircraft by peering sideways out of such a small orifice (as the Bishop said to the actress..!)

Andy ;)

Direct Ventilation is my choice.

Hardly 'direct vision' for anything useful in a PA28 apart from checking the L.H. fuel cap is on.

Same for PA32, Baron/Bonanza etc etc...

Never used one as "Direct vision", BUT I have on many occasions as "direct ventilation", especially if the capt. was on curry the night before!:ooh: The one nice thing about an unpressurised a/c I suppose...

Uses of a DV window
 

In larger aircraft . the openable DV window [ Direct Vision ]
consists of a sandwich layer of heavy perspex , so that when
the rest of the aircraft is iced up or descending, clear vision is possible through that window.
Moisture formed between the sandwich layers , is removed by a vial of silica gel crystals.

The DV window is a lot more robust than on a PA28 , as the larger aircraft are pressurised.

I've just looked in a couple of Pilot's Operating Handbooks:

Piper Seminole: They call it a "Pilot's Storm Window" (I'm not sure what problem it is supposed to cure in a storm)

Mooney: They call it a "Pilot Window"

I always thought DV stood for "Direct Vision" but the logic of this thread now makes me think that "Direct Ventilation" is more likely.

If someone has successfully landed an aircraft while the DV window provided the only outside view, then I'm very impressed.

Direct Vision

It may come as a surprise to many of you, that aircraft existed long before the PA 28 was a twinkle in Mr. Pipers eye.

Since the first day of enclosed cockpits there has been a direct vision window for use in seriously inclement weather that affects the pilots forward vision.

Look back to photos of WWII planes, the Lancs, Stirlings et al all had their DV's.

A Spit of course could wind back the canopy.

My 2 cents worth

Sultan Ismail