Hitting the canopy-Safety issue

[RV7Guy]

I have intended to bring this up but until the recent tragic event in Canada, I had forgot. Anytime there is a gathering of RV pilots and the subject is brought up, there is always a flurry of responses. "I remember one time, I hit the canopy so hard, my first kid was born dizzy." "Yeah, me too." And, so on.

In October, I was returning from Visalia CA to Chandler, AZ with a friend on board. I also do a full on briefing before each flight with the passenger. In this case, my preflight weather check included a significant tail wind on both legs. On the second leg it would be nearly 35-40 kts. I briefed on the possibility of turbulence and sheer.

After making the turn to the second leg we were seeing ground speeds in excess of 230 kts. I told my friend that we were hauling A but being in the mountains could also create sheer. Well sure enough, just East of Twenty Nine Palms we hit sheer that jammed us both into the canopy very hard. The ball cap I wear doesn't have the little button on the top, so I didn't drive that into my head. And, I have Clarity Aloft headsets so nothing on top of the head there. We hit so hard that I was expecting canopy damage. Thankfully, none occurred. FYI, I've got about 1" clearance head to canopy. Not much!!!

The auto pilot was on. We were both dazed considerably. I had a large area on the left side of my head that swollen and sore. My friend about the same. We continued on and agreed to check on how each of felt during the last hour of the flight. We were both fine but wanted to keep checking. The Natsha Richardson head injury death was on our mind.

We were fine but over the next few days, we still had head aches and sore necks but eventually completely recovered.

I know there was an accident in CA a few years ago where an 8 pilot was lost and it was believed he may have been knocked out after hitting turbulence. I wonder how many other unexplained accidents could be from the same thing?

Sadly, it is extremely hard to determine because of the extensive trauma to the body leaving not much for autopsy examination.

I have flown with a 5 point and it helps some, however any time you are sitting on a cushion there is room for movement. Even strapped in to the point of discomfort, with extreme sheer, you're gonna move.

I wanted to throw this out there in the interest of safety.

How many have had this happen to them?

What can we do to improve the reduction of canopy hits?

Lets all fly safely. No more lost RV Sisters and Brothers.

[videobobk]

First off, the only time I have hit turbulence anywhere near this bad was a night flight, long ago, in a C-150. From totally smooth air we hit shear that made a quart of oil in the back do damage to the ceiling and land in the front seat. There is more headroom in the 150, so we didn't hit anything with our heads.

Secure anything in the baggage compartment, if for no other reason than to avoid canopy damage. I wear QT headsets, and I believe your incident speaks volumes for behind-the-head units, or at least having well-padded headsets. I (almost) always wear a Tilly hat--impossible with normal headsets--that has a layer of foam padding in the top. It has made a big difference on those occasions where I have conked my head on the ground, and I expect it would in flight also. I wouldn't consider wearing a cap with a topknot, and I never loosen my seatbelt.

I would like to know your airspeed at the time. At least in the 9, dropping below 150 mph TAS does wonders for lessening the effects of turbulence. If it gets really rough, I cease to be in much of a hurry.

Bob Kelly

P.S. Since I have a custom carbon fiber canopy, I built in an extra inch of headroom. I'm 6'4". This might even be possible with the standard setup, but it would take some welding.

[Ron Lee]

What Canada accident are you referring to?

I use a baggage area cover in my 6A to prevent possible damage

[Snowflake]

Flying back to Canada from Idaho recently we encountered wind shear too... We had been scooting along around 190mph indicated in calm air, but slowed down as it got bumpy and the tailwinds increased. Eventually we were indicating 150mph but still showing 200mph groundspeed on the GPS. As we exited the region we hit a couple of quite bad bumps, one levitated my charts and flight guide off the seat to the level of the canopy rail, but I guess either I was strapped in tight enough or I sit lower in the cockpit... I didn't hit the canopy either way.

Unexpected turbulence causing a head injury is an interesting theory for the accident in Ontario... It would certainly explain the lack of communication from the pilot.

[edit] I should add that my -6 didn't come with baggage tie-downs... But I just received them in the mail, and will be looking at how to retrofit them to an existing airplane with a riveted-in baggage floor. If necessary i'd drill out the pop rivets holding it down and re-attach, but i'd prefer to avoid that. Baggage tiedowns are a must, though. I don't know how much my flight bag moved in the back during that bump, I couldn't see it.

They're cheap insurance, too, they were only $10 each: http://pitposse.com/quditian.html

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

[edit] I should add that my -6 didn't come with baggage tie-downs... But I just received them in the mail, and will be looking at how to retrofit them to an existing airplane with a riveted-in baggage floor. If necessary i'd drill out the pop rivets holding it down and re-attach, but i'd prefer to avoid that. Baggage tiedowns are a must, though. I don't know how much my flight bag moved in the back during that bump, I couldn't see it.

The tiedowns on the floor of my RV-6 were cut from scrap 1" aluminum angle and attached to floor ribs with steel pulled rivets. The tiedowns protrude through slits cut in the carpet on the baggage compartment floor.



The $$$'s was zilch since the materials came out of my scrap box and the project took about one hour total time (no need to pull up the floor). Shouldn't be any issues with strength (100lbs X -3G / 4 tiedowns = 75lbs each).

[mv031161]

It might be too much for your application but this is what I use and reccommend 5 point Hooker Harness with an extra Safety lap belt with a Rachet. http://www.hookerharness.com/aviationaerobatic.php youo wont move at all!!!

if too much, I strongly reccomed this one instead with the military style buckles http://www.hookerharness.com/aviationsport.php

[robertahegy]

I sit tall in the saddle, so to speak, and found I needed to remove the wedge from under my seat cushion. I added a layer of carpet and some 3/4" high density foam under the main seat cushion in place of the wedge. This gave me more head clearance. I hit some shear one day that sent me upwards so hard my headset flew off. Fortunately my belts were tight and my upward trajectory was halted before smacking the canaopy.

Roberta

And shy away from hats with the beany buttons.

[n5lp]

For a long time I have thought hitting the head on the canopy hard is the cause of some accidents. I first started thinking about it after hitting my own head hard on the canopy, first of a Schweizer 1-26 and later my RV-6. Both of these aircraft have relatively low wing loadings.

One accident I am pretty familiar with is only reasonably explained by the aircraft rolling inverted and doing a half split S during a cross country flight. By far the most likely cause of that, to me, would be the pilot getting knocked out or stunned and turbulence causing the aircraft to get inverted. This accident happened just past the first ridge after a long flat stretch. The pilot had been cruising at around 2,500 AGL with winds of around 70 knots on the tail.

[AlexPeterson]

Crotch strap on the belts to me is a must. I do not understand why so many planes don't have them. Makes all the difference in the world in turbulence (or inverted flight as well for those so inclined!). They can be retrofitted into finished planes, no big deal.

[robertahegy]

I think the crotch strap is a good idea, especially if the head clearance is minimal. I did not have one in my 7A. The regular belt setup stopped me before hitting the canopy, but I did have the extra room by not using the seat wedge and I do keep the belts tight. Some things to consider.

Roberta