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RV-8 Canopy Puzzle

Airzen

Well Known Member
Hi Folks,

Last week during a local flight I experienced an event that I am trying to resolve.

Specifically, I was in an aggressive slip (1.5K feet per minute descent) for a couple of minutes when suddenly I felt a draft of air in the cockpit. There was no sudden sound or any noticeable change in handling of the airplane. Just started to feel a constant stream of air blowing just around the top of my head on the left side. Interestingly the draft was blowing from the aft to the front of the canopy.

The canopy has been pretty well sealed all these years and the draft was a surprise. Consequently, I decided to land at once. After shutting down the engine I decided to spend a good amount of time with canopy closed to see if I could see any obvious change in the canopy/canopy latch etc. I couldn't notice anything.

I have checked for the security of the entire canopy, cracks, any openings in the skirts etc. but no joy. I have had others take a good look as well but there is no obvious answer to what I experienced.

I have had a couple of flights since that day and everything is normal - no draft of air.

Any thoughts / ideas? Especially where and what to look for next?

I'd like to understand why this happened (I slip the aircraft very frequently, so this was a unique event).

Ashish
 
Draft

Any chance the passenger vent next to the rear stick was blowing on you ? There is really no wear and tear items on the canopy that would change the closed position over years of use . Possibly a new headset ? Mine made new noises when I upgraded headsets
 
Long shot ...

Unseen crack in the canopy that is flexing during your slip? or a canopy/frame joint pulled loose? Might not be something that is easy to see when the parts are back in alignment
 
My canopy leaks at the rear. As a passenger you can pull down on the frame and stop the flow. Maybe check the centering pin or the nylon block is secure? Same for skirts. I would think hard slip could get flow under the skirt too.
 
Normal to Me

This happens from time to time when I cross controls aggressively (knife edge). Can only speculate difference in air pressure shifts the canopy slightly.
 
I think Charlie is right. A real small shift will unleash a gale from the rear in the 8. I had that till I got a good seal with 1/8 in felt all around. It was nice in the summer.
 
It's the change in airflow around the whole A/C during aggressive uncoordinated flight allowing air in a gap ordinarily not exposed enough, something you don't notice during balanced flight or even during other uncoordinated maneuvers as airflow varies with speeds and airframe angles..
 
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