TwanV wrote: ↑27 Feb 2018, 13:00
Jolle wrote: ↑27 Feb 2018, 12:57
TwanV wrote: ↑27 Feb 2018, 12:51
I've been scrolling through this thread and as an engineer I can't get my head around why people would think the halo is a good solution. In my mind the halo is a compromise brought about by FIA politics in the wake of the Bianchi tragedy when the only sensible thing to do really is to ban open wheel racing. In safety terms it really doesn't make any sense to not have a closed canopy as opposed to a halo. Aesthetically: the same. I even saw some comments/FIA research that appear to show that an F-16 canopy is inferior to the halo and that the halo is so fantastic because "it can tackle a london bus". Who is interested in london busses anyway, the only thing that matters is that a potential lethal impact is absorbed. Out with the halo, in with the canopy please; especially on cold days like today.
I think you need to read/view the fia documents. they are very clear that Bianchi's accident wasn't part of it. They were already busy with head protection even before surtees his accident (on request by the teams and drivers).
As an engineer you must know that a plastic screen or canopy is no match for a solid titanium roll bar. There is a FIA presconference on here somewhere, just watch it.
Well let's not have an argument about the power of wind-screens since every car apart from open-wheelers have one. How many cars/jets have a solid titanium bar instead? It's just bad spin Jolle, really.
If cars were build like airplanes, they would weigh 200kg and made of tinfoil. One crash and you're dead.
A f16 canopy is build to withstand a 1kg bird at 600 km/h (give or take), not a F1 crash, where a car rides over you or you get wedged under boarding. Also, a canopy costs around ten times that of the halo plus it would need replacement with every small crash, next to all of the questions of rain, dirt, airconditioning and driver retraction.