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#61
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NTSB Report on Bill Phillips' Accident
Sailplanes are adopting forward hinged canopies as a safety feature. Any canopy opening system can open inadvertently if not properly latched but the forward hinge system will open less violently than other systems. Regardless of the hinge system, an open canopy is not likely to render an aircraft unflyable. The first priority is to FLY THE AIRCRAFT and deal with the canopy on the ground after a safe landing. Long experience has shown that the biggest hazard of an open canopy in flight is the pilot trying to close the canopy and not flying the aircraft while he's doing it. There's a history of glider accidents with this scenario. Glider pilots are taught to assume an open canopy is trashed, put it out of their mind and fly the glider as an open cockpit aircraft. Bill is correct. The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to close it. I can make this statement as a "voice of experience." http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm I only had about 30 hours in glider when this incident occurred. If I my glider had a forward hinged canopy the result of an unlatched canopy would have been a bit of noise caused by the canopy not being properly sealed. One of these days I am going to have to replace the canopy on my current homebuilt sailplane. When the time arrives a I will install forward hinged canopy. Wayne http://tinyurl.com/N990-6F |
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NTSB Report on Bill Phillips' Accident
"Wayne Paul" wrote in message news Bill is correct. The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to close it. I can make this statement as a "voice of experience." http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm To add to Wayne's excellent post, the following canopy-caused accident always sticks in my mind. It caused fatal injuries to a paying passenger, severe injuries to the Commercial pilot, & less severe injusies to the tow pilot. There happened to be an FAA inspector watching the accident happen, so the witness description is probably better than most. "A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector witnessed the accident. In a written statement the Inspector said: "My attention was drawn to the glider by its erratic pitch changes. As I concentrated on the glider I saw that the rear canopy had opened and the person in the rear seat extended an arm toward the open canopy. At the same time, the glider pitched up rather steeply and the arm returned inside the glider. With the canopy still open, the glider reduced its pitch but remained on high tow. This effort to close the canopy occurred at least three times with the glider going higher and higher. Toward the end of the runway, the tow plane began to descend then pitch up once or twice then descend and impact the ground. As the tow plane impacted the ground, the glider, which was much higher and still on the tow rope, continued forward and climbing and the tow rope became almost vertical...[which] separated from the glider and fell in a pile by the tow plane. The glider continued...beyond the tow plane...rolled left to the inverted position...and impacted the ground..." http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...9FA004B&rpt=fa Like I said, this one sticks in my mind, but if you search the NTSB database you will find too many more. Vaughn |
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NTSB Report on Bill Phillips' Accident
On Sep 28, 8:56*am, "vaughn"
wrote: "Wayne Paul" wrote in message news Bill is correct. *The biggest hazard of an unlatch/open canopy is trying to close it. *I can make this statement as a "voice of experience." http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-16/nocan.htm To add to Wayne's excellent post, the following canopy-caused accident always sticks in my mind. *It caused fatal injuries to a paying passenger, severe injuries to the Commercial pilot, & less severe injusies to the tow pilot. *There happened to be an FAA inspector watching the accident happen, so the witness description is probably better than most. "A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector witnessed the accident. In a written statement the Inspector said: "My attention was drawn to the glider by its erratic pitch changes. As I concentrated on the glider I saw that the rear canopy had opened and the person in the rear seat extended an arm toward the open canopy. At the same time, the glider pitched up rather steeply and the arm returned inside the glider. With the canopy still open, the glider reduced its pitch but remained on high tow. This effort to close the canopy occurred at least three times with the glider going higher and higher. Toward the end of the runway, the tow plane began to descend then pitch up once or twice then descend and impact the ground. As the tow plane impacted the ground, the glider, which was much higher and still on the tow rope, continued forward and climbing and the tow rope became almost vertical...[which] separated from the glider and fell in a pile by the tow plane. The glider continued...beyond the tow plane...rolled left to the inverted position...and impacted the ground..." http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...9FA004B&rpt=fa Like I said, this one sticks in my mind, but if you search the NTSB database you will find too many more. Vaughn I should have added that when letting a student open a canopy in flight, it is done at low airspeed and in a glider whose canopy is known to be easily opened and closed in flight. There are many expensive two-east gliders with canopies costing thousands of dollars that I would never let a student risk. On at least one occasion a student of mine who had experienced a deliberate canopy opening with me later suffered an inadvertent opening and handled it well. He told me the story years after his training. Bill Daniels |
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NTSB Report on Bill Phillips' Accident
On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:13:04 -0700, Ron Wanttaja wrote: I wouldn't risk a passenger's life. There's a lot of peace of mind, in flying a single-seat airplane.... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- And all these years I thought it was Chuck Sluzarczyk's MUZZLELOADER. Thanks for clearing this up, Ron. ;+) Barnyard BOb - Flybaby & RV3 driver |
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