A transparent skin panel for use in a mobile platform having a plurality
of metal sheets. A fiber reinforced resin at least partially surrounds
the plurality of metal sheets. The fiber reinforced resin is transparent.
A cutout is formed within each of the plurality of metal sheets, which is
filled by the transparent resin during the manufacturing process. The
cutout corresponds to a window in the transparent skin panel. The
transparent skin panel thus eliminates the need for a bulky and heavy
frame structure that has traditionally been employed on aircraft, and
which has heretofore limited the size of windows used on an aircraft. The
present invention thus enables larger windows to be incorporated on
aircraft without increasing the weight or cost associated with such
windows.