NTSB Report on Bill Phillips' Accident

Sailplanes are adopting forward hinged canopies as a safety feature.
Any canopy opening system can open inadvertently if not properly
latched but the forward hinge system will open less violently than
other systems.

Regardless of the hinge system, an open canopy is not likely to render
an aircraft unflyable. The first priority is to FLY THE AIRCRAFT and
deal with the canopy on the ground after a safe landing.

Long experience has shown that the biggest hazard of an open canopy in
flight is the pilot trying to close the canopy and not flying the
aircraft while he's doing it. There's a history of glider accidents
with this scenario. Glider pilots are taught to assume an open canopy
is trashed, put it out of their mind and fly the glider as an open
cockpit aircraft.

Bill is correct. The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to close it. I can make this statement as a "voice of experience."
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm

I only had about 30 hours in glider when this incident occurred. If I my glider had a forward hinged canopy the result of an unlatched canopy would have been a bit of noise caused by the canopy not being properly sealed.

One of these days I am going to have to replace the canopy on my current homebuilt sailplane. When the time arrives a I will install forward hinged canopy.

Wayne
http://tinyurl.com/N990-6F

"Wayne Paul" wrote in message
news
Bill is correct. The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to
close it. I can make this statement as a "voice of experience."
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm

To add to Wayne's excellent post, the following canopy-caused accident
always sticks in my mind. It caused fatal injuries to a paying passenger,
severe injuries to the Commercial pilot, & less severe injusies to the tow
pilot. There happened to be an FAA inspector watching the accident happen,
so the witness description is probably better than most.

"A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector witnessed
the accident. In a
written statement the Inspector said:

"My attention was drawn to the glider by its erratic pitch changes. As I
concentrated on the

glider I saw that the rear canopy had opened and the person in the rear seat
extended an arm toward

the open canopy. At the same time, the glider pitched up rather steeply and
the arm returned

inside the glider. With the canopy still open, the glider reduced its pitch
but remained on high

tow. This effort to close the canopy occurred at least three times with the
glider going higher

and higher. Toward the end of the runway, the tow plane began to descend
then pitch up once or

twice then descend and impact the ground. As the tow plane impacted the
ground, the glider, which

was much higher and still on the tow rope, continued forward and climbing
and the tow rope became

almost vertical...[which] separated from the glider and fell in a pile by
the tow plane. The

glider continued...beyond the tow plane...rolled left to the inverted
position...and impacted the

ground..."

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...9FA004B&rpt=fa


Like I said, this one sticks in my mind, but if you search the NTSB database
you will find too many more.

Vaughn

On Sep 28, 8:56*am, "vaughn"
wrote:
"Wayne Paul" wrote in message

news
Bill is correct. *The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to
close it. *I can make this statement as a "voice of experience."
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm

To add to Wayne's excellent post, the following canopy-caused accident
always sticks in my mind. *It caused fatal injuries to a paying passenger,
severe injuries to the Commercial pilot, & less severe injusies to the tow
pilot. *There happened to be an FAA inspector watching the accident happen,
so the witness description is probably better than most.

"A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector witnessed
the accident. In a
written statement the Inspector said:

"My attention was drawn to the glider by its erratic pitch changes. As I
concentrated on the

glider I saw that the rear canopy had opened and the person in the rear seat
extended an arm toward

the open canopy. At the same time, the glider pitched up rather steeply and
the arm returned

inside the glider. With the canopy still open, the glider reduced its pitch
but remained on high

tow. This effort to close the canopy occurred at least three times with the
glider going higher

and higher. Toward the end of the runway, the tow plane began to descend
then pitch up once or

twice then descend and impact the ground. As the tow plane impacted the
ground, the glider, which

was much higher and still on the tow rope, continued forward and climbing
and the tow rope became

almost vertical...[which] separated from the glider and fell in a pile by
the tow plane. The

glider continued...beyond the tow plane...rolled left to the inverted
position...and impacted the

ground..."

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...9FA004B&rpt=fa

Like I said, this one sticks in my mind, but if you search the NTSB database
you will find too many more.

Vaughn

I should have added that when letting a student open a canopy in
flight, it is done at low airspeed and in a glider whose canopy is
known to be easily opened and closed in flight. There are many
expensive two-east gliders with canopies costing thousands of dollars
that I would never let a student risk.

On at least one occasion a student of mine who had experienced a
deliberate canopy opening with me later suffered an inadvertent
opening and handled it well. He told me the story years after his
training.

Bill Daniels

On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:13:04 -0700, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

I wouldn't risk a passenger's life. There's a lot of peace of mind, in
flying a single-seat airplane....

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

And all these years I thought it was Chuck Sluzarczyk's MUZZLELOADER.
Thanks for clearing this up, Ron. ;+)


Barnyard BOb - Flybaby & RV3 driver