What to do if the canopy opens during flight ?

"Dallas" wrote

Here's a photo of my finger after doing that in a 172 when the window came
down in the slipstream:

chuckle

Sorry to see that happened to you. Sorry for laughing, too, but you are as
bad as me! It takes a special person to take time to take a close-up of a
"good injury." Is that two or three stitches worth? Surprising that a
window can do that.

I have a picture of an air nail gun powered roofing nail going in and back
out the other side of my thumb. It's one of my favorites!
--
Jim in NC

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:35:10 -0400, Morgans wrote:

Surprising that a window can do that.

It's ok to laugh... it was funny about twenty minutes after it happened.

Right after it happened, the first thing I did was to look to see if my
finger was still there. It was a miracle it didn't break the bone.

I have a nice scar that should be there for the rest of my life... It's a
great conversation starter at cocktail parties.


--
Dallas

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:35:10 -0400, Morgans wrote:

I have a picture of an air nail gun powered roofing nail going in and back
out the other side of my thumb.

Ouch!

But it could have been worse:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...fetyatwork.jpg


--
Dallas

"Dallas" wrote

Ouch!

But it could have been worse:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...fetyatwork.jpg

Yeowser! That one is hard to imagine. It must have involved using the gun
over your head, firing it towards the face, and the safety was pressed by
the edge of the wood, but the nail was not over the wood.

How do I come to that conclusion? I did the same to my hand, one time.
Those are the only two times in all the hours of using nail guns that have
gotten me "nailed." I'm a carpenter by trade, by the by.

The nail in the thumb was really strange. The hose was fouled, so a gave it
a big whip to shake it loose, and as I did, the safety contacted my opposite
hand, but the trigger must have gotten bumped in the process of whipping the
hose. Kinda' stupid, but most accidents are. :-(
..
Anyway, did you manage to get the door shut when you cut your finger? I
suppose you turned around and went for medical attention.
--
Jim in NC

On 17 Aug 2008 00:52:50 GMT, Clark wrote:

Ya didn't leave bloodstains on the aircraft, did you?

Ha...
I was actually flying with ManhattanMan from this group. If he hadn't come
up with the handkerchief we would have had to land to stop the bleeding.

--
Dallas

In article
,
Superdoof wrote:

Hi,
In the video at www.fulldeflection.com , Kirby Chambliss has his
canopy fly open during flight.
He was very cool about it. I think he made all the right choices.

I've had a door open a few times during flight too, on a Cessna 152.
My instructor showed me how to close it in-flight.

You slow down to nearly stall speed, which means you can open the door
just wide enough to slam it well enough to close. Although it would be
safe to leave open.

Imagine if Svetlana Kapanina, or Patty Wagstaff had their canopies
open. There'd be hair everywhere.

Superdoof.

It depends on the airplane. Bonanzas,Comanche, Cherokees, etc. can fly
safely, at reduced speed, until landing. The big mistake a lot of
Bonanza pilots have made is exactly the procedure outlined above. They
stalled, the airplane snapped and they went in.

Best procedure is to slow down to best glide speed, either leave the
door alone or have a passenger (if available) hold the back side of the
door to keep it from fluttering, and land at the nearest airport.

The plane will fly quite nicely (and safely) under these conditions.

Some experimentals may experience disruption of the airflow over the
tail and may be in a heap o' hurt if the canopy opens in flight; others
have no problem.

--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.

"Superdoof" wrote

Imagine if Svetlana Kapanina, or Patty Wagstaff had their canopies
open. There'd be hair everywhere.

Patty has short hair, now. I liked her much better as a curly headed
brunette.

I have the opposite fear of the canopies that the windshield and canopy
overhead are all one piece, and the hinges are at the leading edge of the
canopy.

What would you do if you wanted to get out of the crashing airplane, and had
a parachute, of course? I understand that some have an emergency hinge
release. That would be better than noting, but then you get to wear the
canopy in your face, I would think.

I surely would be very uncomfortable flying a plane without a hinge release,
especially while testing, or flying acro.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Superdoof" wrote

Imagine if Svetlana Kapanina, or Patty Wagstaff had their canopies
open. There'd be hair everywhere.

Patty has short hair, now. I liked her much better as a curly headed
brunette.

I have the opposite fear of the canopies that the windshield and canopy
overhead are all one piece, and the hinges are at the leading edge of the
canopy.

What would you do if you wanted to get out of the crashing airplane, and
had a parachute, of course? I understand that some have an emergency
hinge release. That would be better than noting, but then you get to wear
the canopy in your face, I would think.

I surely would be very uncomfortable flying a plane without a hinge
release, especially while testing, or flying acro.
--
Jim in NC
I have exactly the same concern about those tilt forward canopies; and don't
know how, or if, it is adiquately adressed. It just seems like a high price
to make egress easier on the ramp.

Peter

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message
. ..
I have exactly the same concern about those tilt forward canopies; and don't
know how, or if, it is adiquately adressed. It just seems like a high price
to make egress easier on the ramp.

In my experience, a conopy does nothing to make egress easier on the ramp.
In fact, I recently stopped renting a factory made Zenith partially because it
is difficult for a solo pilot to close and properly latch the ill-fitting
canopy. I will take a real door any day.

What a canopy really does is simplify airframe design, particularly for a
mid-wing design; but it does so at the expense of adding a whole new set of
problems.

Vaughn

On Aug 17, 10:22 am, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote:
"Peter Dohm" wrote in message

. ..

I have exactly the same concern about those tilt forward canopies; and don't
know how, or if, it is adiquately adressed. It just seems like a high price
to make egress easier on the ramp.

In my experience, a conopy does nothing to make egress easier on the ramp.
In fact, I recently stopped renting a factory made Zenith partially because it
is difficult for a solo pilot to close and properly latch the ill-fitting
canopy. I will take a real door any day.

What a canopy really does is simplify airframe design, particularly for a
mid-wing design; but it does so at the expense of adding a whole new set of
problems.

Vaughn

Not that anecdotal evidence means anything, but my flying lessons have
been stopped for over a week due to some latch problem with the
Evektor Sportstar's canopy. VERY frustrating....