SportCruiser Canopy follies - Mind the latch

The pilot of a Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser light sport aircraft, a model that earlier this year became the PiperSport, taking off in Millbrook, NY appears to have learned a lesson in phyics the hard way on 11 April.

NTSB: According to several witnesses, the airplane's engine sound was "good" during the takeoff roll and throughout the flight, but at liftoff, the wings were "rocking" and the airplane was not gaining altitude. Almost immediately, the airplane banked "really hard left" back towards the airport, and disappeared from view. The sounds of impact were heard, and a fire ensued at ground contact. Some of the witnesses stated that they saw something fall off of, or from the airplane during the turn.

Further, the NTSB preliminary report, issued 19 April, said the pilot, who crawled away from the now-burning low-wing LSA, told the first witness at the scene that he had been trying to hold the canopy shut and "fly the plane" at the same time. "I did not lock the canopy," he told the responder.The pilot was seriously injured in the crash, and I don't know his condition but hope he's making a recovery.

While flight instructors constantly quiz students in Cessna 152s and Piper Cherokees as to what do if a door pops open on takeoff or in flight (ANSWER: NOTHING - KEEP FLYING), the action may not be so clear when talking about a big, beautiful bulbous canopy like the one on the PiperSport, or other non-standard door or canopy designs.

Cessna, for its new Skycatcher C162, is having to rewrite its tried true training rules about the sweet nothings to do when a door pops open in flight. The Skycatcher's doors lift upward instead of forward. So while the ram air before would hold the 152 door most of the way closed, allowing you to fly along a little cooler than before, that's not the case with the C162.

In the video segment below, which I took earlier this year (skip to 1:35), Cessna chief pilot for piston engine operations, Kirby Ortega, answers the question he always gets asked about the Skycatcher door...

If the C162 door does open in flight, Ortega says pilots are instructed to slow down to 80kt airspeed and land as soon as possible, rather than try to close the door in flight or continue flying, as is the procedure for the 152.

For the SportCruiser, aka PiperSport, it would seem logical that ram air would hold the forward-lifting one-piece canopy closed, but a guy name Bernoulli many years ago determined that faster air flowing over a top surface causes lower pressure and hence net lift in the direction of that lower pressure, which in the case of the Sport, would cause the canopy to try to lift up and open.

Anyone know Czech's or Piper's standard operating procedure for handling a popped canopy in flight?

Picture is from sportcruiserpros.com