Rear view mirrors on planes

They do. We have one in our club 182. Makes checking proper movement of the elevator when boxing the controls real easy.
 
Some Cessna 150/152's have mirrors as well. I've never seen them use for rear-view purposes, but they are helpful for instructors to observe the fear in their student's eyes.

Most fighter aircraft , WWII to present, have true rear-view mirrors, for obvious reasons.
 
As mentioned above, Cessna offered panel-mounted rear-view mirrors on several models in the '60s and '70s. They weren't very useful, but went along with the company's promotion of the new "Omni-Vision" rear windows. Here's one in the '66 C-150F I used to own:

04X-PNL2.JPG


Lockheed U-2s have outside rear-view mirrors so pilots can see if they're leaving a contrail -- a bad thing for a spy plane. :eek:
 
There was one in the 1965 N4065V C-150 in which I first trained. When I bought the 1971 Skyhawk there was nothing similar and I missed it. I bought one from a salvage yard in WA State. It had come off a plane which, coming in for a landing, did so on top of a pickup truck(which wasn't supposed to be where it was). Some time later a fellow emailed me that the wrecked plane had been his flying club's plane.

HR
 
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They were installed on the 150s to help aid in avoiding collision with other aircraft.
 
several glider pilots install mirrors to help with visibility in gaggles.
 
And towplanes, and motorgliders so pilots can check prop orientation before retracting the motor.
 
My instructor told me to use the mirror to see if I was drifting off the centerline
 
So you can see the ground when you loop the old C150. :)
The tow plane I flew had an external one.
If one wanted a rear view mirror, n this day and age wouldn't some kind of camera arrangement be as good or better? Maybe vacuum mounted to the rear window?
 
What about a horn, that would seem more useful...
 
KyleT said:
What about a horn, that would seem more useful...
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The funny doohickey in the center of the panel with the "<-->" button and the numbers reading 1 2 2 8 0 isn't good enough?

Given that some pilots don't listen to gear warnings, I kinda doubt a horn would do much good....

There is a mirror on the 177RG I fly sometimes, but it doesn't look backward. It's for inspecting the gear.
 
Some dude on VAF forums makes some sweet fighter style RVMs for RV8s
 
KyleT said:
What about a horn, that would seem more useful...
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Some planes (iirc Queen Airs) have a 'ramp hailer'. An outside speaker you can control from the audio panel to yell at the rampers :D

I knew a glider pilot who had an air-horn in his plane. His home field had a informal walking path across the end of the runway and it helped to shoo away the trespassers.
 
"I replaced my flat rear-view mirror with a concave one and I felt it gave me a touch of speed. One day I looked up in it and saw a fattest, ugliest Messershmitt ever. Its nose lit up as it opened fire on me."
 
tonycondon said:
several glider pilots install mirrors to help with visibility in gaggles.
Click to expand...

The plane I flew this weekend had one. Here's what I saw in the mirror on the ground....
 

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Our C-150 has one, and surprisingly, I do use it frequently during takeoff to monitor how I am tracking the centerline. I also use it when taxiing to check for someone behind me. That's about it.
 
I thought the mirror in a C-150 was so you could see the birds catching up with you. :D
 
Too many accidents from women trying to do their makeup when flying.
 
MultiMediaWill said:
Why don't these exist?
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Good question.

I am getting a complex endorsement and have also wondered about this, not so much to look behind me but to get eyes on the landing gear in case of a '3-green' malfunction.
 
Manoj said:
I am getting a complex endorsement and have also wondered about this, not so much to look behind me but to get eyes on the landing gear in case of a '3-green' malfunction.
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You can see quite a few tip-tank-equipped airplanes (e.g. Bonanzas, Comanches) with mirrors on the inboard side of the tanks, just for that purpose. Also, some Cessna Centurions have mirrors hanging down from the underside of the wing.

Trivia: Why did the German Junkers Ju.52 (fixed landing gear) have mirrors on the inboard side of the #1 and #3 engine nacelles? (yellow arrow in photo below)

P1030969_mirror.jpg
 
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To clear the number 2 engine when starting?
 
Manoj said:
Good question.

I am getting a complex endorsement and have also wondered about this, not so much to look behind me but to get eyes on the landing gear in case of a '3-green' malfunction.
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A 177RG has a wing mirror precisely for this reason.

It's REAL NICE, at least in daytime. But it only has 1 green...
 
Pilawt;1222516[Snip said:
"Also, some Cessna Centurions have mirrors hanging down from the underside of the wing."
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:o) "hanging down:" That Clyde Cessna was smart and understood gravity. If they were positioned on the upper side of the wings they wouldn't be hanging.

HR
 
Pilawt said:
You can see quite a few tip-tank-equipped airplanes (e.g. Bonanzas, Comanches) with mirrors on the inboard side of the tanks, just for that purpose. Also, some Cessna Centurions have mirrors hanging down from the underside of the wing.

Trivia: Why did the German Junkers Ju.52 (fixed landing gear) have mirrors on the inboard side of the #1 and #3 engine nacelles? (yellow arrow in photo below)

P1030969_mirror.jpg
Click to expand...

To view the engine instruments for the wing mounted engines.
 
MAKG1 said:
Huh? Almost every plane has a parking brake. There are quite a few that don't have mirrors.
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Excellent point. Now we have THREE silly posts in one thread!
 
Because I don't have a Mig threat where I fly and would rather not sacrifice the extra 5 kts of drag to mount them.
 
Pilawt said:
You can see quite a few tip-tank-equipped airplanes (e.g. Bonanzas, Comanches) with mirrors on the inboard side of the tanks, just for that purpose. Also, some Cessna Centurions have mirrors hanging down from the underside of the wing.

Trivia: Why did the German Junkers Ju.52 (fixed landing gear) have mirrors on the inboard side of the #1 and #3 engine nacelles? (yellow arrow in photo below)

P1030969_mirror.jpg
Click to expand...

To see the exhaust flame for setting the mixture?

Dan
 
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