On Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 6:39:59 PM UTC-6, son_of_flubber wrote:
Dreaming about next summer...

Other than drag, is there any reason to not remove my canopy and go soaring? Experimental airworthiness.

I fly a restored 1967 Schleicher ASK-13 "Cabriolet" sailplane at Marfa, Texas, that has an additional "open" cockpit canopy fabricated from Schleicher Tech Note drawings. Perhaps you have seen photos of this sailplane at "Burton Compton" on Facebook.

On tow at 65 mph there is much wind and noise especially in the rear cockpit. Leather helmets and secured sunglasses or goggles are mandatory. The disturbed flow over the elevator and rudder make flying the tow a bit clumsy but not dangerous. After release and slowing to 50 mph the rudder and elevator responses are good however the disturbed air on the venturi aft of the open cockpit causes erratic indications in the variometer. Averaging out the indications on the vario and flying by listening and letting the sailplane "talk" to me, climbs in thermals to over 11,000' msl during my "Oktoberfest" Vintage and Classic Sailplane Camp at Marfa were typical. With the normal enclosed canopy the vario works well and wind chill, even in summer, is eliminated.

At the 2016 International Vintage Sailplane Meet (IVSM) on Harris Hill near Elmira, NY, I flew my ASK-13 with the open cockpit unit installed for several minutes alongside Tony Condon's Cherokee and matched his 23/1 glide ratio. Therefore I took a beautifully restored ASK-13 and purposely degraded its performance just for the fun of open-cockpit flying. I sense no perceivable difference in stalling and landing.

Hollering "Which way to Ireland" (stuttering like Jimmy Stewart as Lindbergh in the movie "The Spirit Of St. Louis") at folks on the ground is amusing.. Slicing a streamer of toilet paper at altitude is easier as you can reach up and grab a bit of it. (Please remember to set a "hard deck" altitude and avoid target fixation.)

Flights with me including all glider rating checkrides and flight reviews are available in my ASK-13 at Marfa, year-round near the Davis Mountains of southwest Texas. Bring a helmet, scarf, goggles and your sense of humor.