My first flight in a PW-5 was a pleasurable 3 hours. It was a bit noisy at 90 kt - one of those days when it was hard to get down.

After landing I opened the canopy and it came all the way off.

It turned out that the canopy eject had been operated. The canopy is secured by a long rod with a notch for the eject mechanism. Once the notch is disengaged you have to push up the canopy a considerable distance to get it off.

It takes a careful preflight to ensure the canopy is secure. Fortunately it stays on unless you give it a good push.