And thus the checklist for my ASH-26E states "tail NOT pointed at sun".

Last season, the canopy reflected sun burned holes in my little PZL compass on
top of my instrument panel cover. It gets your attention real fast to whiff a
bit of that petroleum based liquid and think you have a fuel leak!

Kemp
9J

I'd heard of this phenomenon before, but couldn't figure
out exactly how it happened. Seems it's not the light
coming through the canopy, but the light reflected
from the inner surface (which is roughly parabolic
in shape), that causes the problem. At a shallow grazing
angle, enough light is reflected to get smokin' hot.
Nice trick to know if you ever get ants in your cockpit
;o)

Bob