Why Do Some Boeing 737s Have Eyebrow Windows?

If you look above the cockpit windows on the Boeing 737, you may see an extra set of smaller, thinner windows. These have been nicknamed “eyebrow windows” and were once a useful addition for aircraft navigation and maneuvering. However, advances in technology have seen them phased out, but you can still see them in place on some older aircraft.
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[@jetredneck7787]

As a retired Captain I was taught over 30 years ago that there was a regulation requiring so many square inches of windows on jet aircraft. The 737, DC9, MD80 type aircraft, due to size of cockpit wasn’t able to achieve, so manufacturers added eyebrows to obtain the required area of glass. Sorry if this was addressed in an earlier comment, I wasn’t able to read them all. Notice larger windows on DC10 and others, met the FAR requirements.

[@zulfiqaralikhurrum6911]

Oh man, this is the Video I always wanted. Didnt know they're called "Eyebrow windows"

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

We aim to please :D - TB

[@ConcordeError404]

@@SimpleFlyingNews You may not mind, but can you just try making a video on the Bristol Brabazon, the largest British aircraft ever, if you don't make it, I don't mind, your videos are still brilliant :D

[@jorge.aviador2023]

@@SimpleFlyingNews yes I knew about them

[@aviationin4k258]

Simple Flying hi

[@ChiDraconis]

@@SimpleFlyingNews Will sub & try the interwebs site • Suggestion: Describe to new initiates to flying why we do not try to file sVFR @ San Diego ◘ My position is retired studying Commercial IFR with intent to prepare for medium haul cargo though is only for enjoyment

[@stevemoore12]

I just gotta say this is such a great channel. Very knowledgeable, straight to the point, beautiful and relevant aircraft footage, and I learn something new every video. Well done!

[@ModelAviationStation]

I like the eyebrow windows it gives you more of a view to see while flying.

[@carlosandleon]

Do you really bother to look up?

[@reigels]

Well done. Next up for the truly observant: the small vortex generators ahead of the windscreens on some 737s to reduce noise in the cockpit.

[@Blooga_]

They were also on the original 737-800

[@skyserf]

2:20 Yes. On the 737-300s and 737-500s we used sectional charts to block the sun. 📄 ☀️

[@jakejacobs7584]

As a newly minted 737 captain my first leg ever in the plane was from DFW to SNA. Descending for the approach thru about 5000' msl one of the eyebrows on my side shattered. There wasn't much of a pressurization problem ( small window/low pressure differential). However it was noisy. So that's the story of my first landing in a 737 and my first into Orange county as well. P.S. only did about a year and a half on the 73 got a busted up right knee from that damn trim wheel as well, both knees were previously assaulted in the 727. Fond memories all. In the short time I flew them the newest models of the737-800 were being delivered with no eyebrow windows and vortex generators at the base of the windshields which made the cockpit much quieter. The 73 used basically the same cockpit as the 727-200.

[@gperm3710]

I've always loved the eyebrow windows, it gives the 737, 727 and 707 a really angry a fierce look to them, but I do know that to pilots, it's a nuisance

[@paparadzi734]

When I was flying the B734-400 in the early 2000s, one of the first action when getting into the cockpit us to get some paper to cover up the eyebrows. This was done because of the glare and extra heat caused by the windows.

[@what_should_i_call_myself4382]

RIP, Sir & Captain Tom Moore

[@therickman1990]

I thought the eyebrows are still optional on today's 737 (NG series, not sure about MAX series), not sure though

[@shahimagesyt]

Edit from last comment, 737 max doesn't have them 737 ngs don't have them I think. Maybe only on a few aircraft now Some 737 classic aircraft have them still 737 original series most likely had them

[@737MaxPilot]

Earlier NGs did have them. He mentioned they stopped in 2005, while the NG debuted in 1996.

[@AviationSimulation]

Why do some a320neos have black masks around the cockpit? all I know about them is that they look cool

[@MSRTA_Productions]

Some Airlines just like having the mask on them lol

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Great suggestion! I'll pass it on to the video team. - TB

[@ChaufMT]

Just a question. Why used the noses to be black and nowadays colored?

[@devansh8846]

It looks like goggles to me😂

[@ItzGoldz]

@@ChaufMT im pretty sure that the noses of older planes (ex. 707, 727, 747-100/200) were painted black to absorb more light and minimize glare, but nowadays a different kind of paint is used to prevent that.. other than that idek

[@RedLP5000S]

I had no idea that Boeing had eliminated those windows on the 737. I was so used to them for so many years that my mind's eye just puts them there.

[@dannywilde244]

I knew about the eyebrow windows and how they were used for tight aircraft turns. However, it was my understanding that sextons need more sky access than what was afforded by those windows to be a viable navigation aid. Then again, I'm neither a pilot nor do I know how to use a sexton, so I might be wrong on that second part.

[@jacobaviation8554]

Thanks for these videos

[@garyreed2206]

Lots of hours in C-130s with 3 eyebrow windows on each side (as well as 2 lowers forward and 2 more lowers on each side. Great for formation flying, navigating 300 ft contours in mountain valleys, tight turns into a primitive landing zone. A good example of "Form follows Function".

[@mrcannotfindaname]

Yes, I know them for starlight navigation.

[@flyingjeff1984]

Interesting note (at least, to me.) The eyebrow windows weren't part of the original design approval process. Therefore, taking them out wasn't an issue for the government to approve or disapprove.

[@adamthers1881]

Because they're on fleek guuuurl

[@LongHaulbySimpleFlying]

Great video!

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

We try hard! 💁‍♂️ - TB

[@letsseeif]

'Eyebrow' window are something on a 'curate's egg'. ... as you opined, good in parts and with negatives. Previous piston airliners like the DC4/4/6/7 and Lockheed Constellations didn't have 'eyebrow windows' as they used astrodomes for celestial navigation (that 'bubble dome' or as many as several, situated well behind the pilots and before GPS/SatNav, crews on many long range flights esp over water included a Navigator as well as a specialist Radio Officer and Flight Engineer.) [my own fifties nav training included 'celestial' - much as in Captain Cook's time.]

[@billmorris2613]

With 52 years in aviation as both a commercial pilot and aircraft mechanic this is the first I have heard about the eye brow windows. I have noticed them but did not know they plaid a special roll. I never worked on any of the plans mentioned. But I was a crew chief (mechanic) and a flight engineer on C-130s. There is a row of three smaller windows on each side above the main windows, so I’m guessing they are eye brow windows. But again there was never anything special about them. As a crew chief I inspected them with the rest of the windows and cleaned them before each flight.

[@sirankleknocker3122]

Because they need to express their feelings, obviously because they can’t speak but can be heard talking through radio transmissions, having adult voices of many different types. Researchers do not yet know where or how other 737s breed either.

[@AgentSquash]

Excellent video. One note though - TCAS is pronounced as 'tee-cas' - not as T-C-A-S.

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Thanks, I've emphasized this to our video team. - TB

[@francissantos7448]

Thanks for the trivia. I didn't know that.

[@jonesaviation1116]

People who play/ed FSX: oh yes, we know

[@wiryantirta]

"people who play any kind of thing involving head tracking and flight sim: we know too" - Arma helicopter "main" when flying close to terrain

[@jonesaviation1116]

True

[@rkan2]

You mean satellite and radio-navigation guided?

[@vijethurval7473]

Very interesting.... Never heard of it.

[@mattpowney741]

I remember reading about this in 2005.

[@Lee247Jamaica]

Yeeeet

[@ozzy8286]

It was a military feature that was incorporated even into civilian aeroplanes. It remained in place almost out of habit rather than necessity.

[@stvpls]

the maxes still have them alivable i think there are the plates wich can be swapped out for windows

[@aviationin4k258]

I wondered this

[@jgriletz]

So even in it's late years, or those s still flying, did/does the 727 still require a 3rd person in the cockpit (navigator)?

[@Kalvinjj]

From what I read here, the 727 still indeed needs a 3rd crew member in the cockpit but not for navigation, rather a flight engineer. Proposals for different variants of the aircraft that did exclude the flight engineer (even from trijet to twin) were made but never went through

[@jgriletz]

@@Kalvinjj yeah my bad, i meant flight engineer. I didn't know if they did any upgrades to eliminate that position. Thanks for the info!

[@marcmcreynolds2827]

The only way to eliminate the FE position is with a complete redesign and recertification of a flight deck for two pilots. That's what Boeing offered to DC-10 operators: A conversion to the MD-11 spec cockpit as the "MD-10".

[@DeepSoniMe]

How would I know about these windows without watching this video.. literally where would I even know of it 😂

[@shrimpflea]

Google?

[@edp2259]

i sure did know!

[@jantschierschky3461]

Always thought those were used to search for Ufo

[@GarrettWorcester]

I knew about them, but didn't know that they were outdated and some pilots actually find them annoying, lol!

[@davidtanslow3584]

And I thought they were for the pilots to view the horizon as the 737 flew into the ground!!! Or am I getting them mixed up with the 737 max?

[@MSRTA_Productions]

To be like us

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Military versions usually get them.

[@norbertdx]

The title brought me in but the repeating ran me away. but i got the point

[@johnf8877]

Who would have known that windows were for looking out?

[@boeingfreak1]

I don't like the eyebrow windows i'm happy that they are not needed anymore

[@DavidMarfe]

All military ones still have them

[@jacobaviation8554]

I already knew

[@Heavyalex1388]

They have them because they are sick of the hard landings

[@elPooleTV]

no i didnt know about windows!!

[@vichkar3680]

Its actually to prepare for pixars next film: planes 3

[@benwilson6145]

Astronavigation in a 737, load of nonsense.

[@mamroberts1639]

Ya

[@Berlin5-1]

Nice, to the point. You can get the answer in the first minute of the video, and the rest is relevant, useful information. Very unlike some other channels, where even three minutes in they still just talk about irrelevant things and ask you to "LiKe AnD sUbScRiBe". I like your website, and this channel is also quite good.

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Thanks for the feedback! - TB

[@explorelondon3695]

Eye brows before EVS..

[@edwinpaulino6674]

Boeing CEO Is Working a Technology On The Boeing 797

[@harshalsarang6997]

Why ATR and Q400 not have any In flight entertainment screen?

[@haweater1555]

Short flights. Passengers could also keep occupied by watching the propellers whirl round and round.

[@daggu_0077]

Wow just 30 seconds ago

[@Tilt02]

C’est pour les grands pilotes

[@maaberr25]

I have a different question not related to eyebrow windows. At 3:00 mins what is that hump on top of the 737? I have seen it on other aircrafts and always wondered what it is. At first, I thought it's part of the air conditioning system but that is taken from the engine. Anyone would know or could Simple Flying make a video about that? Thank you in advance

[@genkoguchi1110]

That is a radome for an antenna used to communicate to a satellite so that passengers can connect to the internet in the air.

[@maaberr25]

@@genkoguchi1110 I didn't think about that. Thanks for your answer.

[@aaa-kx3yt]

It will be said to see the airbus a380 gone

[@shrimpflea]

said?

[@yankeeswin4266]

Is it to climb out of incase of an emergency?

[@shrimpflea]

That would have to be a very thin pilot.

[@marcmcreynolds2827]

The large side windows can be, at least for some airliner designs. Latches released by a handle allows them to move inward and then back. A stowed rope is available in aid with egress.

[@aplanespain9075]

To wink them at the lady's

[@erbenton07]

300 hours to inspect the eyebrow windows? How can that be?

[@bmused55]

Cumulative, the eyebrow windows needed inspection like every other window when the aircraft is in for maintenance/checks. Deleting them saves that time on each inspection.

[@erbenton07]

@@bmused55 So, how long does it take to inspect the eyebrow windows on one plane?

[@dabigcheezprod]

Answer: cuz they older

[@riliryrimaddyvia9630]

I mean the 737 is a 707 just different

[@Lee247Jamaica]

True smaller and with with 2 less engines

[@boeingfreak1]

@Blue Collar Silver Dollar :D

[@nightbotisahuman7388]

Boeing just like eyebrows.

[@DavidMarfe]

I already knew lol

[@albertericson5917]

The thumbnail was taken a second before disaster

[@Dhiaw]

Second

[@georgewashington938]

Why Do Some Boeing 737s Have Eyebrow Windows? so the pilot can tell if he is going to fit into the restaurant drive -through

[@BB-dp4kh]

The 737 eyebrow windows are the same as women...so have them...some don't...

[@heron1473]

Third

[@daggu_0077]

Guess im 3rd

[@heron1473]

No ... İ am

[@Lee247Jamaica]

@@heron1473 your not

[@MSRTA_Productions]

@@heron1473 You're fourth mate lol

[@heron1473]

@@MSRTA_Productions whatever 🙄

[@TJK152]

Eyebrow windows are so ugly and makes the plane look so old. 727s and old 737-200s and classics that have them plugged make them look so much more modern.