What to do if the canopy opens during flight ?

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.