Hood back for the deck

September 30, 2026 · feature

The Navy came aboard with the hood back: more air, a clearer view over the nose, and a quick way out if the deck went wrong. Now your cockpit does the same. Slow down over a friendly flight deck and the hood opens on its own, then runs shut again as you climb away.

Slow down over the deck

Fly a slow, low pass down your own carrier's flight deck, the same pass that brings the deck crews out to patch you up and reload. Inside that window the hood opens over your head, and it shuts again once you speed up or climb away. It takes about a second and a half each way, so you can watch it run.

Each fighter opens its hood the way the real one did:

the Spitfire's hood slides back on its rails over the rear glazing;
the Corsair's runs aft along the turtle deck, leaving the sky open over your head;
the Fw 190's winds back on its crank, which turns on the wall beside you, and the head armour goes back with it;
the Bf 109's swings up and over to the right on its hinge, and stands open beside you.

From a Bf 109's seat on a slow pass over a carrier's flight deck: the hood's framed glass swung up and over to the right on its hinge and standing open, the carrier's grey island tower with its red-edged gallery beyond it, and the Revi gunsight and instrument panel to the left — A Crimson Bf 109 easing up the Essex's deck on the rearm pass, its hood swung open against the island.

Shut for the fight

At fighting speed the hood is always shut, so nothing changes in a dogfight. The P-38 and the B-17 keep theirs closed: the Lightning's canopy lifts off rather than slides, and the Fortress has a roof over its flight deck.

Press C in any of the four fighters, find your carrier and slow down over its deck.