RV7Guy
Well Known Member
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.
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.