How susceptible is the Tip Up to wind damage?
 

I am leaning towards the Tip Up style, primarily due to the unobstructed forward view. How easily is the Tip Up damaged by wind? Will all of you Tip Up users out there please chime in. :D

Mike

It can easily be blown shut and damaged if unattended, particularly as the gas struts get weak. The easy solution is to not leave the airplane with it open. I don't think this is much of a drawback as I can't see any reason to need to leave it open if you are not right there.

If I need to leave mine open due to hot weather, I set it on the handle prop tab and resting on the roll bar. It's just like your rudder, lock it up if you think the wind will catch it. Better to be safe than sorry. I love my Tip Up.

Roberta

Flying my tip up for over 14 years. Wouldn't have anything else. Don't have gas struts, don't leave it open in the wind.

You've gotten some good replies. After nearly eight years with my tip-up RV-6, I can assure you if I built another two-place RV it would also have a tip-up. :)

The wind question is moot since there is no reason to ever walk away from your plane with the canopy open, just get in the habit of closing it promptly (or leave it in the taxi position) after you and your passenger deplane.

For those instances when I've wanted to leave the canopy open at an air show when there is no high wind and I'm standing nearby, two pieces of slit rubber hose are placed over the strut rods so the canopy can't unintentionally close.

Update; Well, maybe not moot. Monday on the way to S-N-F on a very blustery day I briefly turned my back while getting out of the plane at a fuel stop and the 25+kt wind shut the canopy hard before I knew what had happened (but with no damage to the canopy). This was the first time in eight years with the RV-6 this has happened. I think the incident was mainly possible due to the struts having reached the end of their service life.......and a pilot who wasn't paying close enough attention. :o

Had this "almost" happen...
 

Parked into the wind at a fly in, no sooner had the wife and I exited the plane the canopy blew down (it hit hard)! I was just thankful that I had the safety catch in the "taxi" position and the handle hit the rollbar when it came down (which I believe is the only thing that prevented a broken canopy) :eek: Thankfully the only damage was it bent the handle where it hit the rollbar. I had been meaning to replace the weak struts but just hadn't got around to it yet. Needless to say when I got home I ordered a new handle and new struts. So just keep the struts up to snuff and be careful when fully opened facing into a strong wind. I love the visibility of the tip up and would build it the same way again, no regrets :D

Ditto what others have said. Had mine blow shut once (my own fault) really hard, and it did not damage it at all. Fortunately it came striaght down, with any twist I think it would crack.

Love my tip up.

Thanks for the input
 

I appreciate all of the responses. They will help me make an informed decision. Looks like I'll have to "pay attention" to avoid problems, but I think the unobstructed forward view will be worth the extra precautions.

Thanks again,
Mike

Has anyone had a problem egressing in a tailwind and having the canopy blown open hard and damaged? Or is the design robust enough and/or do the struts mitigate against this??

tip up
 

I would like to know the answer to this question too... Seems to me a sudden gust from behind could do some damage.