Badwater Bill

Corrected version...

On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:58:39 -0400, John Smith wrote:

In article ,
Ron Wanttaja wrote:

Law enforcement personnel that initially responded to the accident site went
to the area specified by the witnesses as the location where the objects
departed the airplane. At this location, personal effects including clothing were
identified.

I am not familiar with the Lancair design, is there a baggage door on
the side of the fuselage?

I don't believe there is one, in the stock configuration. However, there are
aftermarket products to convert a rear window into a baggage door. I do not
know if one had been installed.

http://www.aircraftersllc.com/projec...ndow/index.htm

Baggage on a stock Legacy is loaded from the cabin, over the seat backs. In
this case, the only ways for baggage to exit in flight is if a rear window
breaks out or if the canopy opens.

The stock Legacy has a rear-opening (front-hinged) canopy:

http://www.bock.co.za/assetts/images...n/DSCF2925.jpg

The Lancair that crashed at Sun-N-Fun this year had its canopy open on
takeoff...

http://tinyurl.com/5t63s6

....but the NTSB preliminary seems to minimize this as being related to the
crash, except possibly as a distraction: "During the takeoff climb a witness
said he saw the cockpit canopy moving and believed the pilot was pushing it up
and down about 6 to 12 inches. Another witness stated that shortly after takeoff
the engine lost power, the airplane continued straight and level and there was
no attempt by the pilot to return to the runway....."

Lancair claims that an open canopy on a Legacy does not affect controllability.
One Legacy owner had it happen, and reported that the only real impact was a
high noise level. However, there are anecdotal reports that conflict with this.

There is a modification available to change the Lancair to a front-opening
canopy...

http://www.aerochia.com/kits_aft-canopy.html

.... but not only does it apparently feature a LOT of locks up forward, the
canopy should have been the first item to depart the airframe had it come open.
It would have been found with the personal items that came out.

Ron Wanttaja