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NTSB on open canopies

LettersFromFlyoverCountry

Well Known Member
The NTSB seems to be at it again, guessing on a cause without much reliable information.

It has released a factual (not probable cause, but a well detailed report) into the crash of an RV-6 near St. Cloud MN a couple of years ago.

It points out the canopy and the latching mechanism were consumed by the fire, but it still considered an open canopy as a possible cause:

TESTS AND RESEARCH
The effects of wake turbulence, if any, could not be determined without relative position and time information from radar/recorded data for both airplanes.

The Lancair Legacy Canopy Safety Issue (Thorn 2014) discusses accidents resulting from flight with the upward opening canopies that become unlatched/open in flight for Lancair and not RV airplanes, which also have upward opening canopies. The paper states in part:

"There are several potential root causes of the Legacy's open canopy flight hazard. One is the canopy is large and, if not latched down in flight, it will open to varying degrees and alter the air flow over the tail/stabilizers and under some situations create significant pitch attitude stability and control issues.

Another potential root cause may be the pilot's loss of reliable airplane pitch attitude reference where the canopy's structural frame serves as a key attitude reference line and as the open canopy moves it corrupts the pilot's normal visual pitch attitude reference cues.
 
The LancAir canopy is a different design than our tip-up's. I could see it causing problems, if it came open in flight on a LancAir.

During my Phase 1 test period, I took off with the canopy unlached to verify the plane was controllable. It was and I found out that if you slow down and deploy all the flaps you can close it in flight.
 
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If the canopy came off, I'd like to see some investigation of the path it took during ejection. As I recall Van's says they're not aware of any data of an RV canopy being ejected in flight via the quick-release mechanism, which I didn't bother to install.
 
The NTSB seems to be at it again, guessing on a cause without much reliable information.

It has released a factual (not probable cause, but a well detailed report) into the crash of an RV-6 near St. Cloud MN a couple of years ago.

It points out the canopy and the latching mechanism were consumed by the fire, but it still considered an open canopy as a possible cause:

TESTS AND RESEARCH
The effects of wake turbulence, if any, could not be determined without relative position and time information from radar/recorded data for both airplanes.

The Lancair Legacy Canopy Safety Issue (Thorn 2014) discusses accidents resulting from flight with the upward opening canopies that become unlatched/open in flight for Lancair and not RV airplanes, which also have upward opening canopies. The paper states in part:

"There are several potential root causes of the Legacy's open canopy flight hazard. One is the canopy is large and, if not latched down in flight, it will open to varying degrees and alter the air flow over the tail/stabilizers and under some situations create significant pitch attitude stability and control issues.

Another potential root cause may be the pilot's loss of reliable airplane pitch attitude reference where the canopy's structural frame serves as a key attitude reference line and as the open canopy moves it corrupts the pilot's normal visual pitch attitude reference cues.

I somewhat share your skepticism Bob.

There are instances of side by side RV's being flown to a fully controlled and safe landing, with unlatched canopies, all the way back to the early 90's when customer RV-6 and 6A's first started being flown.

That doesn't totally rule it out since open canopies have caused a lot of accidents because of pilots allowing themselves to become distracted by it (this usually occurs at low altitude immediately after take-off).

It does seem that in this case there is little to no evidence to support the theory though.
 
For what it is worth, there are a couple of RV12 accidents suspected to be caused by canopy coming open in flight, not caused by pilot error in controlling the plane.

I somewhat share your skepticism Bob.

There are instances of side by side RV's being flown to a fully controlled and safe landing, with unlatched canopies, all the way back to the early 90's when customer RV-6 and 6A's first started being flown.

That doesn't totally rule it out since open canopies have caused a lot of accidents because of pilots allowing themselves to become distracted by it (this usually occurs at low altitude immediately after take-off).

It does seem that in this case there is little to no evidence to support the theory though.
 
For what it is worth, there are a couple of RV12 accidents suspected to be caused by canopy coming open in flight, not caused by pilot error in controlling the plane.

This is not a correct statement

As far as I am aware, there is only one case where the pilot claimed the canopy opened and caused the airplane to be difficult to control.
There are a number of other instances where the pilot has specifically said the airplane flew normally (one of those was part of a safety article published in Kitplanes).

All evidence at this point seems to imply all accidents with RV-12's where an unlatched canopy was involved, were the result of some level of pilot distraction.
 
Flying an RV with an open canopy

I have intentionally flown two RV-6A's and my current RV-7A with the canopy open with no ill effects (other than a high noise level). All have been tip-up variety canopies, not sliders. This was done on all three aircraft during the phase one flight testing. I have since forgotten to lock the canopy once or twice on the RV-7A, again with no ill effects. But you MUST still fly the airplane first!

In fact, I can say from testing experience that one can successfully land the pane by using the tip up canopy in place of a non-usable elevator. Once the aircraft is slowed and trimmed for level flight with the canopy open (and floating) pushing the canopy up causes the nose to be lowered, pulling it shut causes the nose to rise (assuming a constant power setting). Flaps MUST be in the up position for this to work.

Is this recommended: Definitely not. But it's nice to know that you could do it in an emergency situation.

I somewhat share your skepticism Bob.

There are instances of side by side RV's being flown to a fully controlled and safe landing, with unlatched canopies, all the way back to the early 90's when customer RV-6 and 6A's first started being flown.

That doesn't totally rule it out since open canopies have caused a lot of accidents because of pilots allowing themselves to become distracted by it (this usually occurs at low altitude immediately after take-off).

It does seem that in this case there is little to no evidence to support the theory though.
 
I have intentionally flown two RV-6A's and my current RV-7A with the canopy open with no ill effects (other than a high noise level). All have been tip-up variety canopies, not sliders. This was done on all three aircraft during the phase one flight testing. I have since forgotten to lock the canopy once or twice on the RV-7A, again with no ill effects. But you MUST still fly the airplane first!

In fact, I can say from testing experience that one can successfully land the pane by using the tip up canopy in place of a non-usable elevator. Once the aircraft is slowed and trimmed for level flight with the canopy open (and floating) pushing the canopy up causes the nose to be lowered, pulling it shut causes the nose to rise (assuming a constant power setting). Flaps MUST be in the up position for this to work.

Is this recommended: Definitely not. But it's nice to know that you could do it in an emergency situation.

Thanks for the additional additional information Fred to additionally confirm what 25+ years of time in service has shown.

Don's comment was specific to the RV-12. It has a stabilator (sometimes referred to as a full flying) horizontal control surface, which is different from the rest of the RV's so could conceivably act differently to an opened tip-up canopy, but at this point all solid evidence appears to imply that it does not.
 
Has anyone tried an unlocked canopy or had one come open with the slider type?

-Tim

Use the search function. This has been discussed and the consensus seems to be that the air pressure locks the slider in place and it cannot be moved in flight, either open or closed.
 
Done it twice

Took off in my 7a slider with it about 3 inches open and other than a lot of noise, it was a non event. You can close it at lower airspeeds if you can put both hands on the canopy bow and shove.

On the first leg of a 4,000 mile trip, I reached up to secure the latch when I noticed just a little air noise and it snapped at the hook. The canopy slid open about 1 inch and stopped and you really couldn't move it backwards at all. I think it was my effort that actually pulled it open and not the airstream.

Again pushed it closed using both hands on the bow, my passenger took off a shoe lace and tied it shut. Flew that leg and the next 3,500 miles with the same shoelace until I got home. Never had any indication at all that it wanted to slid back. I seriously doubt it would ever come loose of the rails but I do have push pins in the rollers and think I could eject it manually if I wanted to.

Hate to think of what it might do to the rudder and elevator....
 
I took off in my RV-8 without the canopy latched. It was noisy and cold (winter) but a non event. Tried to push it closed and it wouldn't budge. Everything else was fine, I was dressed warm, so I just continued on to breakfast..... Haven't missed that checklist item since (yeah, a whopping fifteen hours later) but I know if I do, it ain't no thang.
 
During my Phase 1 test period, I took off with the canopy unlached to verify the plane waa controllable. It was and I found out that if you slow down and deploy all the flaps you can close it in flight.

That's what I told my buddies after I landed and closed it :). "I was just testing it!" A non-event other than worrying about if there was the possibility of any damage.

I did forget to *lock* it one time, only the upper latch was engaged ("Canopy - latched and locked" is now on the checklist), and yep, was able to slow way down at a safe altitude and lock it with the side lever.

I just remember what my instructors said back in that little 152..."forget about the door...fly the plane!"...when they would open it surreptitiously before take-off.
 
I unlike Bill R. Had failed to latch the canopy.. Fortunately the safety latch was in place and it did stop the canopy from opening very far. in fact it only opened less than a 1/2 inch.
Like Bill I when I got up to 800 feet I slowed down to almost a stall and was able to close the canopy with out any issue.

I hate to admit this... But got distracted and skipped that on the check list... I asked my self.... How could you miss that big yellow knob sticking out.
I also hate to admit I have over 15,500 hours and 6 type ratings. And a CFI-AI
SEL MEL..and now at 64 years old and flying for a living since I have been 19.

I through out my career have had doors pop open on various aircraft. The worst was a Baron... Never had a situation that if you just fly the plane where it caused a problem other than noise. That said I have seen 2 aircraft at PDK whose door popped open and one was on that particular Baron where the pilot/ owner and a passenger were trying to latch it on the runway and lost control of the Baron.

Jack
 
Canopy

Suspect that canopy behavior varies between different models, i.e. side-by-side and tandem. A year or two ago there was a thread about someone modifying an RV-8 to allow flight with the canopy open a modest amount. This required creating an extra half-bulkhead under the area behind the canopy to support the rail, which is quite flexible; air loads bent the rail and fuselage skin down until the bulkhead was added. It was possible to partially open and close the canopy in flight at appropriate air speeds.
 
ok, who has seen the pic, of a gent that crawled out onto the wing of some low wing slider aircraft with a parashoot on.
 
Well, I thought it was correct, or I would have never posted it. Here are some comments from the NTSB and two pilots experiences:

The Full NTSB Report contains more narrative:
?He said this caused the nose of the airplane to pitch over further and when he applied back pressure on the control stick, there was no response from the elevator. There was also no response from the rudder.?

So - what did the NTSB say about the possibility the canopy indeed blanked the tail surfaces - and what was Van's response?

In a written statement Van's Aircraft, Inc., stated that they have not done any testing in regard to the aerodynamic effects of the RV-12 canopy opening in flight. As such, they could not contest the pilot's claims that the canopy opened to the fully open/vertical position since "There may be aerodynamic conditions that we are not aware of that could cause this."

the pilot stated:
of the big questions was whether the canopy actually went to full open. His latest discussions with Vans revealed they think it is possible. Because of the shape of the Plexiglas, and the forward canopy frame, once the canopy opens to the floating position, airflow beneath the leading edge can actually impinge on the canopy lower surface, and the canopy becomes an airfoil and could possibly move to full open. The canopy geometry is different on the RV-12 than other Vans airplanes with tip-up canopies. They would like to test for this but are so far reluctant to perform an in-flight test, since the open canopy could blank the tail surfaces and lead to loss of control.

Here's the NTSB's Full Report verbiage:
In response to this accident, Van's Aircraft Inc. will issue Notification 14-05-22 recommending owners of all RV-12 aircraft equipped with SkyView or a Garmin G3X Touch to add a canopy latch warning system. This warning system consists of a switch that is tied into the SkyView or Garmin G3X Touch systems and would alert a pilot if the canopy is unlatched or latched improperly when the engine rpm exceeded 3,700 rpm.

And another pilots report:
I had one instance in which, while taxiing in with the canopy unlatched, I gave it a burst of power to swing around in a parking spot and the canopy popped into an approximately vertical position, coming back down when I pulled the power back. It seemed once the canopy moved more than a few inches, the prop wash got underneath the canopy and forced it open.

I opened the canopy after shutdown, both side canopy gas struts failed, the end fittings broke, and the canopy over-traveled with the leading edge striking the engine upper cowl.

This is not a correct statement

As far as I am aware, there is only one case where the pilot claimed the canopy opened and caused the airplane to be difficult to control.
There are a number of other instances where the pilot has specifically said the airplane flew normally (one of those was part of a safety article published in Kitplanes).

All evidence at this point seems to imply all accidents with RV-12's where an unlatched canopy was involved, were the result of some level of pilot distraction.
 
Well, I thought it was correct, or I would have never posted it. Here are some comments from the NTSB and two pilots experiences:

The Full NTSB Report contains more narrative:
“He said this caused the nose of the airplane to pitch over further and when he applied back pressure on the control stick, there was no response from the elevator. There was also no response from the rudder.”

So - what did the NTSB say about the possibility the canopy indeed blanked the tail surfaces - and what was Van's response?

In a written statement Van's Aircraft, Inc., stated that they have not done any testing in regard to the aerodynamic effects of the RV-12 canopy opening in flight. As such, they could not contest the pilot's claims that the canopy opened to the fully open/vertical position since "There may be aerodynamic conditions that we are not aware of that could cause this."

the pilot stated:
of the big questions was whether the canopy actually went to full open. His latest discussions with Vans revealed they think it is possible. Because of the shape of the Plexiglas, and the forward canopy frame, once the canopy opens to the floating position, airflow beneath the leading edge can actually impinge on the canopy lower surface, and the canopy becomes an airfoil and could possibly move to full open. The canopy geometry is different on the RV-12 than other Vans airplanes with tip-up canopies. They would like to test for this but are so far reluctant to perform an in-flight test, since the open canopy could blank the tail surfaces and lead to loss of control.

Here's the NTSB's Full Report verbiage:
In response to this accident, Van's Aircraft Inc. will issue Notification 14-05-22 recommending owners of all RV-12 aircraft equipped with SkyView or a Garmin G3X Touch to add a canopy latch warning system. This warning system consists of a switch that is tied into the SkyView or Garmin G3X Touch systems and would alert a pilot if the canopy is unlatched or latched improperly when the engine rpm exceeded 3,700 rpm.

And another pilots report:
I had one instance in which, while taxiing in with the canopy unlatched, I gave it a burst of power to swing around in a parking spot and the canopy popped into an approximately vertical position, coming back down when I pulled the power back. It seemed once the canopy moved more than a few inches, the prop wash got underneath the canopy and forced it open.

I opened the canopy after shutdown, both side canopy gas struts failed, the end fittings broke, and the canopy over-traveled with the leading edge striking the engine upper cowl.



I am not going to argue with you on VAF about this Don.... I will limit it to adding some other information and let others decide what they think.

Van's added the canopy latch warning system because it was easy to do and because even if you discount the accident you are referring to, there are at least three other accidents that were the result of unlatched canopies on RV-12's (all occurred right after takeoff). I have personally analyzed EFIS data downloaded from some of them.
Issuing the canopy latch warning system was not admittance that an open canopy causes control problems with an RV-12. Even though all info available up until that point indicated otherwise, it was in a sense not calling the person making the claim, a liar. It was easy to just add the system for a hopefully improved level of safety, regardless of what the actual cause of that accident was.

As already mentioned, there was an article published in Kitplanes (I don't know what issue it was) about an RV-12 first flight being done by an experienced RV pilot who had the canopy open during the flight. He returned to the airport and made a normal landing. He said the airplane flew normally with no unusual handling noted (paraphrased based on my memory... I no longer have the article).

As for the second instance you sighted, I am not sure how it is relevant.
There are numerous other instances of broken gas struts on RV-12's where the engine wasn't even running.
A slightly propped open canopy blown open by Cessna Citation taxing by on the ramp, strong gusty tail wind yanked canopy out of pilots hands and slammed it fully open, etc.
 
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It would appear to me that rather than spend months of time on the canopy latch, the far easier thing to have done is just take the company RV12 up, open the canopy at VNE and do some maneuvers.
OK, I understand, I would not have done that either.

I am not going to argue with you on VAF about this Don.... I will limit it to adding some other information and let others decide what they think.

Van's added the canopy latch warning system because it was easy to do and because even if you discount the accident you are referring to, there are at least three other accidents that were the result of unlatched canopies on RV-12's.
 
I hate to admit this... But got distracted and skipped that on the check list... I asked my self.... How could you miss that big yellow knob sticking out.

One of the things the great Tom Berge emphasized in my transition training was to have multiple checks of the canopy on the various checklists.

I think he had two, so when I developed mine, I added three.

I still failed to latch it on one flight.

There are days when I wonder whether I should be flying at all.

The trouble with humans is we're human.
 
THREE STRIKES

G'day Bob,

Good thread - thanks.

I have not left a canopy open yet, but nor have I finished flying - so I am still at risk.

I have used a checklist all my flying life. After noticing an accumulation of lapses one day, I started using a check of myself - whether or not I was fit to fly on that occasion.

I started counting minor lapses, starting from pre-flight. The third minor lapse was strike three, and I reconsidered my fitness to fly:

Strike 1 - oops !
Strike 2 - could be a trend ?
Strike 3 - that is a trend.

Often I returned to the hangar for contemplation, and good fellowship with the hangar rats.

Occasionally I reset my attitude and flew. Less often, after a significant first lapse, immediately I called strike three and went home.

I try to do the same when driving to and from the hangar. - so far, so good.

Best regards,
 
I know what you mean, Bob.

I finished an annual yesterday so I took the plane out. There was a 13 knot wind 10 degrees off the runway, not much to worry about, other than the blowing snow which gave me the illusion of movement as I was doing the runup (kind of like when you're sitting in your car in a parking lot with your head down and a car next to you backs out).

My intention was to do a standard runup, high speed taxi and crow hop, then take it back to the barn after checking everything.

It went fine and then I said, "aw, let's just take it flying." But I haven't been up since December and I hadn't really calibrated myself to go flying (if that makes any sense).

But there I was taxiing back to take off when I suddenly said to myself, "what are you doing? You're coming out of annual, you've done the runup and you KNOW the next step is to take the cowling off and check for leaks"

And I took a left at the taxiway to the ramp and put it back in the hangar.

Where I found a pretty big oil leak.
 
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NTSB

The final report is published on a RV6 fatal in MN. There is no probable cause, the report goes into considerable detail about the proximity of an airliner and the possibility of wake turbulence. The report then goes off on a tangent talking about inadvertent canopy openings, including discussion of Lancair canopies???????
 
Yeah, it's a factual, not a probable cause. I asked the NTSB if they were consulting with Van's on this rather than googling up a Lancair (they had written me an email assuring me they'll get to the bottom of this particular incident), but they have not yet responded.

The reason why they're speculating that it was a canopy problem is there was an entry in the guy's airframe logbook 8 or 9 months earlier (or maybe it was in his pilot logbook, I forget which) that the canopy came unlatched during descent and I guess they're figuring since there isn't an entry that shows some action on addressing that, they suggest a problem with the mechanism.

OTOH, there might not be an entry in it because the guy simply forgot to latch properly or something. I don't know.

They've said they can't prove anything regarding wake turbulent (this guy was at 2k the jet was at 3 and descending) because they don't have any position information w.r.t one aircraft in relation to the other.
 
RV-6 Tip Up came open in flight.

I post this for all to learn from it.
Failed to Double Check Upper Canopy Latch, Locked; prior to takeoff.
Lower canopy side rail latch was locked.
Climbing through 3,000 feet AGL at 100 Knots.
Canopy came open.
Aircraft instantly pitched down 45 degrees.
Lots of wind noise in cockpit.
Retarded power to Idle.
Decreased Prop pitch to Low Pitch, High RPM.
Started increasing back pressure on stick AS aircraft slowed down.
Used very smooth and slow control stick back pressure.
Got aircraft leveled after a loss of altitude of 1,000 feet.
Continued slowing down to 60 Knots and the two of us were able to close and lock canopy upper latch, then side latch.
Landed without incident.
Do damage to canopy or airframe.
Updated checklist from "Canopy Locked" to Canopy Locked (Side and Upper latch.
Pilot has over 1,000 civilian hours; and 200 hours in this RV6.
Retired Military Aviation.
"FLY THE AIRPLANE FIRST; AND THEN DEAL WITH THE EMERGENCY"
SOMETIMES THAT NEEDS TO BE AT THE SAME TIME...!!!
 
Canopy opened in flight

I post this for all to learn from it.
Failed to Double Check Upper Canopy Latch, Locked; prior to takeoff.
Lower canopy side rail latch was locked.
Climbing through 3,000 feet AGL at 100 Knots.
Canopy came open.
Aircraft instantly pitched down 45 degrees.
Lots of wind noise in cockpit.
Retarded power to Idle.
Decreased Prop pitch to Low Pitch, High RPM.
Started increasing back pressure on stick AS aircraft slowed down.
Used very smooth and slow control stick back pressure.
Got aircraft leveled after a loss of altitude of 1,000 feet.
Continued slowing down to 60 Knots and the two of us were able to close and lock canopy upper latch, then side latch.
Landed without incident.
Do damage to canopy or airframe.
Updated checklist from "Canopy Locked" to Canopy Locked (Side and Upper latch.
Pilot has over 1,000 civilian hours; and 200 hours in this RV6.
Retired Military Aviation.
"FLY THE AIRPLANE FIRST; AND THEN DEAL WITH THE EMERGENCY"
SOMETIMES THAT NEEDS TO BE AT THE SAME TIME...!!!

So I have to ask, why did you allow the nose to pitch down 45*? Did you not actively try to pitch the nose back up as it was pitching down? Since you were able to eventually pitch the nose up again, the aircraft WAS controllable. I'm assuming that you failed to catch the fact that the nose was pitching over, and failed to rapidly apply back pressure on the stick.

I can attest to the fact that when the canopy opens suddenly in flight (Tip up version) the nose WILL fall through the horizon (pitch down), but the aircraft is still flyable with a LOT of back pressure applied to the stick (because of the loss of the canopy lifting surface). All my "Open Canopy" testing has confirmed this.

As you said, "FLY THE AIRPLANE FIRST; AND THEN DEAL WITH THE EMERGENCY". SOMETIMES THAT NEEDS TO BE AT THE SAME TIME...!!!
 
RV6 Tip Up came open in flight

I had the altitude to evaluate the problem.
Over a few seconds I might add..!!
Not knowing what applying aft stick abruptly might do to aggravate the situation; I elected a conservative solution. Reduce power & slow it down; while gently applying aft stick to level the aircraft, as elevator control became effective.
With the horizontal stabilizer & elevator airflow "blanked out); applying a large amount of up elevator may have caused a worse situation.
It would have been pure speculation on my part, (at that point in time) as to what may have happened if I had aggressively applied aft stick.
Remember, this didn't happen at takeoff in the pattern or low airspeed. It happened in climb at 100 knots & full power @ 3,000 AGL.
There are unanswered questions on how this aircraft would respond at higher air speeds; if the canopy came open.
 
I post this for all to learn from it.
Failed to Double Check Upper Canopy Latch, Locked; prior to takeoff.
Lower canopy side rail latch was locked.
...
Canopy came open.
...
Did you determine how the canopy came open, with the side rail latch locked? Was the canopy not lowered fully into position before the side latch was locked, or did the side latch fail somehow? Or was there no way to tell?

I didn't build my -6, but I have looked at the latch in detail and I was fairly confident that it couldn't open in flight... Your incident does make me wonder.
 
RV-6 Tip Up came open in flight.

The negative air pressure on the aft portion of the canopy WILL OVERRIDE THE SIDE LATCH MECHANISM...IF THE UPPER AFT LATCH IS NOT LOCKED...!!!
I might add; this airplane was built by a true experienced, professional A&P and IA; and fit and finish are beautiful to see. Including the canopy and latch mechanisms.
I believe this has happened more times than people are willing to admit on a public forum...!!
 
Sorry, but NO WAY!

The negative air pressure on the aft portion of the canopy WILL OVERRIDE THE SIDE LATCH MECHANISM...IF THE UPPER AFT LATCH IS NOT LOCKED...!!!
I might add; this airplane was built by a true experienced, professional A&P and IA; and fit and finish are beautiful to see. Including the canopy and latch mechanisms.
I believe this has happened more times than people are willing to admit on a public forum...!!

I'm going to have to disagree with this. If the canopy latch is constructed properly and latched properly, the negative air pressure CANNOT override that latch.
I've built a few and inspected many RVs with tip-up canopy.
 
I suspect many "hooks" at the end of this mechanism are like mine. When I was building, I didn't want the hook to be fully engaged because I wanted the thing to keep pressure on the canopy in the closed position. I was more concerned about "rattling" than anything else, and I wasn't yet aware -- since I haI sdn't built the part yet, just how snug the upper latch is.

I suspect that if, indeed, this person had a problem with the canopy popping open, his was more or less like mine.

I also have THREE different points in the pre-flight checklists (1 in the start-up list and two in the run-up list -- thanks for that, Tom Berge!) that reference being sure the canopy is in the locked position.
 
The negative air pressure on the aft portion of the canopy WILL OVERRIDE THE SIDE LATCH MECHANISM...IF THE UPPER AFT LATCH IS NOT LOCKED...!!!
I might add; this airplane was built by a true experienced, professional A&P and IA; and fit and finish are beautiful to see. Including the canopy and latch mechanisms.
I believe this has happened more times than people are willing to admit on a public forum...!!

Possibly true with some installations but certainly not the case with all.

The top latch on my tip-up doesn't contact the roll bar, it is free to rotate at all times. If the above quote was true, my canopy would be opening enough to jam the upper latch on every flight. But this has never happened. I suspect that some latches are not going over center as has been mentioned and leaving the possibility of the canopy popping loose.

The only time I've flown with an unlatched canopy was during a very busy (and unfortunately, distracted) takeoff at S-N-F following a loooong, hot taxi with the canopy propped open in the taxi position with the upper latch. The canopy rode about three inches open until I managed to trim the plane in climb (~115 kts) so I could use both hands to force it closed. It was so hard to close I was afraid I had damaged the lower latch. I have since learned that slowing to 80 kts makes the canopy much easier to close.
 
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I took off from home base to fly 35 miles to get fuel. 5 miles from destination I noticed my slider canopy was unlocked and opened 1/2" or so. immediately said "oh ****" then fly the plane popped in my head and I landed without any problems. I figured I was ok so far at 190mph and no problems, why worry at 70 mph. no difference in handling. just hard problem breathing for a minute or so.
Fred
 
Really, gentlemen?

An instant pitch-down of 45 degrees would probably exceed the wing negative G load limit. That would far exceed the negative AOA for a full stall. Above structural cruise speed, something should break in that case. Not saying it didn't happen, just wondering how the airframe and pilot survived it. I would probably never fly _anything_ again if my RV ever did that to me. Everything in the cockpit including my last two meals would be on the canopy, looking for higher.

I have survived a canopy-ajar takeoff and landing. It's no big deal. (and convinced me that egress from a tip-up in flight isn't possible without det cord.)

Color me skeptical, and curious.

-Stormy
 
The negative air pressure on the aft portion of the canopy WILL OVERRIDE THE SIDE LATCH MECHANISM...IF THE UPPER AFT LATCH IS NOT LOCKED...!!!
I might add; this airplane was built by a true experienced, professional A&P and IA; and fit and finish are beautiful to see. Including the canopy and latch mechanisms.
I believe this has happened more times than people are willing to admit on a public forum...!!

I'm going to have to disagree with this. If the canopy latch is constructed properly and latched properly, the negative air pressure CANNOT override that latch.
I've built a few and inspected many RVs with tip-up canopy.

I am too.
As designed, the latch hooks when properly adjusted actually penetrate holes that are supposed to be in the roll bar bulkhead.

I while back I decided to start flying my tip-up 6A with the secondary latch not engaged. Just so if I was ever in a rescue situation, it would be one less thing someone on the out side would have to deal with in getting the canopy open. The canopy stays closed in the exact same position it does when I do engage the secondary latch.

A properly built and adjusted tip-up latch system will keep the canopy closed.
 
It was so hard to close I was afraid I had damaged the lower latch. I have since learned that slowing to 80 kts makes the canopy much easier to close.

If you slow to 80 Kts and deploy full flaps it closes even easier, because in that condition the fuselage is at a lower relative AOA and causes the canopy to lift less.
 
I know of at least one RV accident where pieces of the empenage and the slider canopy were found 1 mile from the main wreckage. Of course it's too speculative to say what happened, but to me it looks like the canopy may have departed the airplane and hit the vertical stabilizer as it came off. Of course, no idea how or why this happened, but I always wondered if a slider canopy could be ripped off by the wind if it came open in flight...
 
I know of at least one RV accident where pieces of the empenage and the slider canopy were found 1 mile from the main wreckage. Of course it's too speculative to say what happened, but to me it looks like the canopy may have departed the airplane and hit the vertical stabilizer as it came off. Of course, no idea how or why this happened, but I always wondered if a slider canopy could be ripped off by the wind if it came open in flight...

I would say that is incorrectly speculative, since it is public record that the canopy was found closer to the main wreckage than the empenage pieces were.
 
Pitch Down

Hope this helps and this is my experience.

I had just leveled out and started the cruise phase of my trip at 4500, approximately 180 mph. Several minutes later, a loud noise or pop occurred. Not sure of what had happened, yes there is a lag between the brain and reality, I found the canopy had become open. I could not move the handle of the tip-up. The yellow knob was locked and in the correct position. The plane had a definite PITCH DOWN attitude. Not uncontrollable, but definite (I did not notice the vertical speed), as I was flying the airplane first and foremost. I remembered reading that at slower speeds it might be possible to close the canopy in flight. As I slowed the plane to approximately 100-120 mph, I was able to pull it shut and relock the yellow knob. I landed at a nearby airport and made sure it was correctly locked and secured. The remaining flight progressed without incident.

Tony
 
I found the canopy had become open. I could not move the handle of the tip-up. The yellow knob was locked and in the correct position.
Did you figure out the root cause, how the canopy became disengaged with the lock in the correct position?
 
root cause

The only thing I'm not sure about was the locking of the top or canopy latch.
It may have been unsecured. Typically, just before take-off it's double checked. I just cannot say for certain.

Tony
 
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