cavelamb wrote:

However an open canopy would effect handling (and I can see nightmares
there), there is one point we've kind of skipped over...

If the canopy latches were not damaged,
then I would surmise that it was not latched.

That would be pilot error - pure and simple.

The fact that the latches weren't damaged doesn't mean the canopy hadn't
been latched when the takeoff run began. Doors/canopies do pop open.
It can sometimes be a matter of rig, so that there wouldn't necessarily
be obvious evidence on the latch hardware post-crash.

According to Phillips' geocities page, the plane had a pumped seal on
the canopy. That may have applied some opening force in a case where
latch wasn't up to snuff...or if it wasn't properly latched to start
with. Are these kinds of seals normally interlocked with the canopy
latches, so they won't inflate unless the latches are set?

The NTSB report doesn't mention any previous problems with the
latch...seems like any of Phillips' friends would have cued the NTSB
investigator in if he'd been having problems with it. The plane was
built by a "hired gun," so Phillip wouldn't have had a builder's
understanding of how the system worked.

The downwind takeoff does imply he was in a hurry, and thus more likely
to forget to latch the lid. If the seals *were* interlocked with the
latches, seems like the additional noise if the seals AREN'T filled
would quickly cue the occupants that the canopy wasn't latched. But if
the seals were able to be inflated with the canopy unlatched, there
wouldn't be any sound cues...until the difference in pressure overcame
the seal's friction and popped the canopy up.

Ron Wanttaja