You know what they say about taildragger pilots, there are those that have ground looped and those that will. I was in the "will" category, and while I would never have said "it couldn't happen to me" I sure didn't think it would happen on take off!
Here is the story. It was 99* F in Kelowna on Monday afternoon when I was leaving for the short (.3) flight home to Salmon Arm. I ignored the checklist item that says ?Canopy Latched? and kept the canopy cracked open to get some air (tipover canopy). Was cleared for takeoff and FORGOT the canopy was still cracked open about a half inch. Full throttle and a bootful of right rudder to keep straight, About a second later as the speed was coming up so did the canopy. Took me by surprise and I instinctively looked at it and reached for it with my throttle hand. During that half second distraction I obviously reduced right rudder pressure and around we went. Fastest 90 degree corner I ever made. By the time I pulled the throttle back to idle it was way too late. Scraped the wingtip as we went around and as I exited the side of the runway the tail came up (don?t know exactly why) and buried the spinner about 6? into the ground just off the pavement. I thought for a millisecond I was going over but fortunately the action stopped there with the tail in the air. I was probably less than 100' down the runway from where I started my takeoff run. You can see the taxiway that provided access to the runway in the picture below. No injuries other than a very bruised ego!
Damage ? right gear leg and the engine mount are bent. Right wing has a wrinkled outboard skin - will need to drill it off to see if the outboard spar is bent. Prop blades are toast and of course the prop hub and the engine will need to be torn down for inspection. Haven't dialed the crank yet but don't hold out much hope - full power strike on the pavement. Right wheel pant (front half) is heavily damaged. Other repairable fiberglass damage around the gear leg fairings and wing tip. Will need a new wheel, actually scraped the side of the rim on the ground and took a chunk off it but the rubber stayed on and it still holds air.
Lesson learned: Build a slider, tipover canopies suck!
.............oh, and follow the checklist regardless of how hot it is.
Here is the story. It was 99* F in Kelowna on Monday afternoon when I was leaving for the short (.3) flight home to Salmon Arm. I ignored the checklist item that says ?Canopy Latched? and kept the canopy cracked open to get some air (tipover canopy). Was cleared for takeoff and FORGOT the canopy was still cracked open about a half inch. Full throttle and a bootful of right rudder to keep straight, About a second later as the speed was coming up so did the canopy. Took me by surprise and I instinctively looked at it and reached for it with my throttle hand. During that half second distraction I obviously reduced right rudder pressure and around we went. Fastest 90 degree corner I ever made. By the time I pulled the throttle back to idle it was way too late. Scraped the wingtip as we went around and as I exited the side of the runway the tail came up (don?t know exactly why) and buried the spinner about 6? into the ground just off the pavement. I thought for a millisecond I was going over but fortunately the action stopped there with the tail in the air. I was probably less than 100' down the runway from where I started my takeoff run. You can see the taxiway that provided access to the runway in the picture below. No injuries other than a very bruised ego!
Damage ? right gear leg and the engine mount are bent. Right wing has a wrinkled outboard skin - will need to drill it off to see if the outboard spar is bent. Prop blades are toast and of course the prop hub and the engine will need to be torn down for inspection. Haven't dialed the crank yet but don't hold out much hope - full power strike on the pavement. Right wheel pant (front half) is heavily damaged. Other repairable fiberglass damage around the gear leg fairings and wing tip. Will need a new wheel, actually scraped the side of the rim on the ground and took a chunk off it but the rubber stayed on and it still holds air.
Lesson learned: Build a slider, tipover canopies suck!
.............oh, and follow the checklist regardless of how hot it is.
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