Visibility out of LM windows

[PeterB]

Can someone provide information about the arc of visibility out of the CDR’s LM window?

That is, how many degrees to left, right, above and below straight ahead could he see?

One of Co(s)mic Dave’s latest complaints is that the astronauts had less visibility than aircraft pilots when coming in to land. I intend to point out that a better comparison would be with helicopter pilots, but again I don’t know how restricted their visibility would be.

Cheers

[echnaton]

Sure they had less visibility that airplane pilots. Like everything CD seems to do his comparison is really beside the point. Airplane pilots have to be able to see to the side so they can taxi around an airport without bumping into things. The LM just had to come in straight and land. Given that the position of the windows the view down was pretty good, but they still had limited visibility. I recall that some of the commanders landed while moving slightly forward so they would be sure of where they landed. So the question becomes, can he support the assertion that the was the view from the LM insufficient for well trained pilots to land on the moon? Obviously not.

You seem to be on the right track in your investigation. Good luck.

[gwiz]

Another thing you could point out to Dave is that the LLTV had a cabin around the pilot that gave the same visibility as the real LM.

[Count Zero]

Googling "Lunar Module window dimensions" I came up with this site. Scroll down a bit to find where he dealt with the same question.

[AstroSmurf]

If you want to try it for yourself, there's a LM landing simulator called "Eagle Lander" somewhere. I had no special trouble landing once I figured out the controls.

[Count Zero]

Note that the Soviet lunar module had an even more restricted view.