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You may have me there, Mel.
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As one who has neglected the checklist and had the canopy pop on takeoff once, and elected to fly to my destination that way, I can tell you that at green arc speeds you can neither open nor close the unlatched canopy more than maybe an inch from its assumed trail position in the slipstream. That much is hard data. |
FWIW, for -8 builders who really want a canopy guaranteed to depart on command, I'm pretty sure the Showplanes fastback kit will get 'er done. There's a good bit of lift when unlatched in a runup pad slipstream, and side tipping -3 and -4 canopies seem to depart just fine in flight.
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A wingsuiter makes a pretty good sail when they inflate their wings too soon and jump _up_ when leaving the jump plane. They usually don't fair too well when making this mistake but the horizontal manages ok. Never heard of a jump pilot loosing control of the airplane as a result and we're usually dealing with a much longer lever arm. When a parachute opens prematurely and goes over the tail and the jumper goes underneath, now that's a different story. I've seen tails ripped away from the fuselage when that happens.
I'm with Ron Shreck when it comes to jumping however. Any opportunity to save myself at the expense of the airplane and I'm switching roles like "right now". No longer a pilot, now I'm a skydiver. |
Last bump - Thanks for all who have answered. The stats are pretty stable now so after this bump for the holiday, I will summarize and close in a few days. 109 respondents now.
My decision - for early phase 1 - my mechanism will be fixed under the panel with the option of installing an inflight pull release later. The skin slots will be cut at the later time. So, for now, it will be available only on the ground. |
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I have some experience in having had the canopy depart from a Giles 202, it happens very quickly, the canopy will most likely hit the tail and horizontal stabilizer with a glancing blow, the damage is typically dents or holes to the leading edges but it was perfectly flyable and was repaired easily.
The canopy departed so quickly that I did not see it happening or notice that it hit my face and forehead on the way past until on the ground. So regarding a Rv7 tipper, I think the canopy will connect with your head on the way past and hence I am looking for a lightweight helmet. If you are knocked out then other options may be irrelevant. The VANS design for release handle is good but the placement is poor if you want an normal stack of radios on the centerline, on my RV7, I simply moved the handle and mechanism 3 inches to the right and adapted the pushrods to suit. I have a full stack of radios and the jettison handle is perfectly within reach plus the ability to remove the canopy for maintenance or construction is awesome. |
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