The poor TIE fighter pilot on the other hand has two large panels on both sides of him, preventing him from seeing anything more than perhaps a 50 degree cone in front of him. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has poor visibility, but the Distributed Aperture System helmet is expected to help the pilot 'see' 360 degrees.

The F-16 Viper has excellent visibility, thanks to a bubble canopy with the pilot in the center. This is a large vertical surface area that seemingly serves no purpose-except to be a large aiming point for Rebel Alliance fighters.Īnother problem with the panels is they restrict pilot visibility. The biggest drawback of the TIE fighter are the flat panels on both sides that make it look like an eyeball suspended between two playing cards. The Twin Ion Engine (TIE) fighter has two such engines-somewhere-and like a World War II Stuka attack plane makes a menacing screeching noise as it passes by. Mainstay of the Galactic Empire's fighter force, the TIE fighter is a pretty menacing aircraft.

Empire of the hand ships