CANOPY Popped open in flight yesterday.
So there I was after CAREFULLY (not kidding) closing and locking the canopy on my (Larry Baldwin) 10-200, had just turned downwind, and the dang canopy popped open- one side released, one side held. I grabbed the OMG handle with my left hand, and flew it back, thankful for throttle friction with the Ellison TBI trying to take the throttle to idle. Uneventful landing.
So- I have never liked the blind latching system, four pins in the fuselage frame (two aft pins I cannot see AT ALL, and two forward pins I can sort of see as they engage the locking lugs on the canopy). Pretty much have to do it by feel. I had thought that by being exceptionally careful EVERY time I close it, I'd be ok.
That has proved not to be the case. GoPro mounted on the turtledeck just behind the canopy shows that the aft pins had not engaged so only the two front pins had been holding it. Don't know why the springs did not hold the pins this time. In any case, it's time to do something better. Which is frustrating (I know, welcome to homebuilt acro planes..) on a plane I had thought to be turn key ready. Yes, I'm rolling my eyes even as I write this.
Do I need a secondary (a la Vari-eze) canopy latch or is that a BAD idea on a competition / low altitude acro machine?
Don't have pics on this computer so will post them from my phone as replies.
Any thoughts on canopy latching? I'm even open to changing the canopy attachment system, but DANG IT, I wanted to FLY this year!
So there I was after CAREFULLY (not kidding) closing and locking the canopy on my (Larry Baldwin) 10-200, had just turned downwind, and the dang canopy popped open- one side released, one side held. I grabbed the OMG handle with my left hand, and flew it back, thankful for throttle friction with the Ellison TBI trying to take the throttle to idle. Uneventful landing.
So- I have never liked the blind latching system, four pins in the fuselage frame (two aft pins I cannot see AT ALL, and two forward pins I can sort of see as they engage the locking lugs on the canopy). Pretty much have to do it by feel. I had thought that by being exceptionally careful EVERY time I close it, I'd be ok.
That has proved not to be the case. GoPro mounted on the turtledeck just behind the canopy shows that the aft pins had not engaged so only the two front pins had been holding it. Don't know why the springs did not hold the pins this time. In any case, it's time to do something better. Which is frustrating (I know, welcome to homebuilt acro planes..) on a plane I had thought to be turn key ready. Yes, I'm rolling my eyes even as I write this.
Do I need a secondary (a la Vari-eze) canopy latch or is that a BAD idea on a competition / low altitude acro machine?
Don't have pics on this computer so will post them from my phone as replies.
Any thoughts on canopy latching? I'm even open to changing the canopy attachment system, but DANG IT, I wanted to FLY this year!
