SonexBuilders.net

Hey Graeme,

Remember the "Bailing Out" thread? I said something like the canopy would try to beat you to death. Well, have a look ;-)

Wes

Looks like a B-Model. Landing short sounds like an engine problem, but the canopy is trashed. Did he lose the engine, then when he was coming up short, open the canopy in preparation? Good on him flying it all the way to the end.

I believe it was canopy, not engine related. It's a B with a turbo Aerovee.

I live and work from home at an airpark. A month ago, one of our neighbors took his Lancair IV out. I have a view of the pattern from my office and when he went by, the passenger canopy was up. He was flying solo. I grabbed the phone and ran to the runway. He did a long pattern with a 2 mile final and aborted the attempt and went around, another long approach and got it down. He didn't try to close it, doubt he could reach it, but surprisingly it didn't depart the aircraft.

Does look like a canopy problem preceded the short landing....we all need to make sure "canopy locked" is prominently on the checklist.

I’m planing to put in my canopy (B-model tilt-up swing back) a micro-switch connected to a warning light in the panel, and probably also to a warning buzzer.

And of course, a “canopy closed and locked” line in the check-list, both before flight and before landing.

Carlos
Xenos-B

Hi carlos, all,

When my father and i built one of the early varieze’s (we still fly it) , we installed a micro switch on the canopy and on the throttle
This was standard and was in the plans. A loud buzzer will go off if the throttle is advanced past a taxi setting.
Besides peter ansons great new latch ( thanks fritz for the origional ) i plan on installing this too.
I hope the owner N220JD can give us a synopsis of what happened.
My guess is on dept unlatched canopy. opened up, flight aborted, landed past dept end.
prop tips sheared, so i would assume engine running. canopy frame bent back and aft from catching the wind.
most of plexi gone broke up and departed aircraft. the gear bent slightly aft due to rough landing.
Good job to the pilot to minimize the damage and a sucessful outcome.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

I have been hesitant to share this video of mine out of embarrassment, but it was definitely a learning moment and should be shared. This is the ASA swingback canopy (Model A Waiex.) When I was building it I had decided to drill additional holes for the lock-pins to allow me to secure the latches in the "open" position, for fear that the locks might move with the canopy closed and end up locking me out of the cockpit (there is no external mechanism to move the latch.) It turns out there's no reason to do this, there is enough friction that the latches just don't move on their own.

This was a pure "human factors" error. I had inserted/verified the locking pins (part of my pre-takeoff checklist) without verifying that the latches were actually locked. The solution, which I have since implemented, was to make it impossible to insert the pins with the canopy unlocked (I filled in the extra set of holes.) At some point I realized that this was a potential issue but kept putting it off, and sure enough it bit me later.

https://youtu.be/uc4EZB5KtGI

I can't speak for other canopy designs, but my swingback will (apparently) readily open when takeoff power is applied if not secured. I'm thankful for this, and also that the canopy was not damaged as a result.

Rynoth wrote:I have been hesitant to share this video of mine out of embarrassment, but it was definitely a learning moment and should be shared.

I agree it's important to share the bad with the good, so we all learn. Thanks for sharing!