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Flying With Canopy Open

Ghost two-six

Ghost two-six

Member
Okay, I'm sure this is somewhere on here from before but when I ran search I came up with everything but what I was looking for.

I used to own a Grumman Tiger and on that aircraft you could fly with the canopy open about six inches as long as you remained at or below 112 Kts. It was great for Florida as you could get outstanding ventilation as you climbed up to cooler temps. Once at altitude you leveled off, closed the canopy and let the aircraft accelerate to cruise airspeed. On that aircraft if you forgot and left it open as you accelerated the canopy would actually slide FORWARD and try and close itself - a great reminder.

My question is can any of the Vans "Sliders" be left open a bit in flight ? What happens if they are ? I don't see any pictures of anyone flying around like this so I assume it's a no-no. I did see a bit about a guy who completely removed the canopy and installed a fastback type fabrication over the baggage area but that's not what I'm looking for.
 
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Two tinny screws up front and a pice of C shape plastic holding the rear? I would never chance losing all af that hard work and a posible tail strike!
 
There is at least one RV3 out there with a convertible open cockpit set up. I could not imagine it in a 6, 7, or 9.
There is a reason that Biplanes typically have closures that wrap up shoulder height and limit cockpit exposure, and most of them are pretty darn slow.

For the side by sides, you can't even open the canopy in flight if your life depended on it. I don't understand the aerodynamics of it, but even in taxi mine becomes hard to open. Even if you propped it open only a few inches, it would have to be a dramatic change in airflow over the canopy.

I would be scared to even try.
 
One primary difference is that on slider RV's, the canopy lifts up in back as it begins to open.
On the Grummans it just slides straight back...
 
nothing new under the sun.......

you gotta love the blazing advancements in aeronautics.
The Thorp T-11, first flew in 1946, yes, not a typo....1946!

now an LSA from Indus aviation I think..

http://generalaviationnews.com/2005/01/14/the-thorp-t-211/

the little slider canopy can be half-opened in flight, altho the airflow over it is about half that of an RV, if it's built for it, no huge aerodynamic mystery at play apparently, ditto the Grummans....(just built the frame for people to grab and lean on etc...... apparently makes it strong enough for air loads)
 
I just did a forum search for Flying with canopy open and got a bunch of good threads. It has been done.
 
RE: Flying With the Cockpit Open

There is a write up in the March 2015 issue of Sport Aviation magazine titled "Open-Cockpit Flying in an RV". A RV-6A builder modified his aircraft to fly without a canopy installed. Looks like it was a good bit of work, doesn't seem all that practical but eliminated the effects of canopy partially open.
 
Taxi with the slider canopy open is fine. Flying with it open is a recipe for disaster. Proper airflow over the tailfeathers in flight is kinda important in the RVs.
 
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Open Canopy

Someone here mentioned the Thorp 211 can fly with the canopy open. This is correct. I found one of these planes for cheap so I bought it as a restoration project sometime ago. I hope I'm not high-jacking, but does anyone know anyone with this plane so I can get more info/build plans. preferably in the Southern California area or Utah. I know most of you are RV guys, but I also know the aviator scene is close-knit. Just thought I would throw it out there. This project needs to tie me over until I can afford an RV!!!

Thanks,
Mike
 
Interesting you should mention the Thorp Mike. I was noticing the other day that a fellow could pick up a decent flying Thorp T-18 for LESS than the cost of a quick build Kit and have an aircraft that would come pretty close to RV performance for way less money.
 
As you would expect, any canopy with sloping sides or back of any consequence is going to act as a drag, if not an outright parachute. Most already have detached airflow over the top, so slide it back and youre gonna get more of the same, but even more aft. Probably not what you want. Note the WWII fighters and such that had sliding canopies - straight sides and top. Ever seen a P-51 with the bubble canopy open in flight.....?
 
Open bubbles

maniago said:
As you would expect, any canopy with sloping sides or back of any consequence is going to act as a drag, if not an outright parachute. Most already have detached airflow over the top, so slide it back and youre gonna get more of the same, but even more aft. Probably not what you want. Note the WWII fighters and such that had sliding canopies - straight sides and top. Ever seen a P-51 with the bubble canopy open in flight.....?
Click to expand...

This bubble canopy was opened in flight -

f4u-4b.jpg


And even the late model, full bubble Spitfires...

22-PK350PRACollection-001.jpg


I think it depended more on other factors than "straight sides and top"...

Might as well add this one too...

640px-50th_Fighter_Group_P-47_Thunderbolt.jpg
 
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Only as a (simulated) emergency measure. I've slowed waaaay down in flight to let a captive fly escape into the atmosphere on his own. Slowing to ~60 KIAS, I unlatched the slider, slid it back an inch or so, and the pressure differential pulled the fly out. I then re-latched the canopy - it was noticeably harder to slide forward but still do-able.

This was done with some thought, BTW - I had a parachute, was in the phase one test area, and was really designed to see what would happen should I ever forget to latch the canopy. It behaved just as others here said it would.

I wonder if the fly experienced shock cooling on his way down from 7500' MSL / 6500' AGL...
 
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