Canopy opening in flight
On Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 11:05:16 PM UTC-5, 2G wrote:
On Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 4:35:35 AM UTC-7, Tom wrote:
Anyone know of an occurrence of a forward hinged canopy that opening in flight? Any possibility of this happening if the forward hinged canopy was unlocked on a flight?
Thanks Tom
Definitely. DG canopies have a single locking pin which can't be closed in flight once unlocked. I have had this happen to me. Another local pilot had it happen in a DG400; a wind gust blew the canopy open and twisted sideways, bending the mechanism. You can't depend upon wind pressures keeping it closed.
Tom
I'm embarrassed to admit that I did open the canopy on my ASW24 many years ago to free a pinched pee tube. There were no problems at all, just a slight and steady push to the closed position. I guess I lifted the canopy by about 4-6" in the back. I must have used one hand to hold the canopy and the other to pull on the tube. You guessed it: nobody was flying the glider.
Herb
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