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Ed,
It's quite painful, as much as I like my Alon, but I do have to admit that I find flying in an early model Coupe with the windows down is a whole lot more fun than flying in an Alon with the canopy open. I like all the features that the Alon has over the older coupes, and I like the visibility, functionality and looks of the sliding canopy better than the older model canopy arrangement, but when it comes to "cruising around with the top down", I like doing that in my friend's 415-C a whole lot better than I do in my Alon.
I've opened and closed my canopy in flight, and made takeoffs and landings with it opened. But I've never been real comfortable doing any of those things. With the canopy open, it's just too darn windy for me. The wind seems to swirl around in the cockpit much more than in a 415-C, and with my contact lenses, that's not a good thing. In the 415-C, the wind doesn't bother me at all. And I don't like opening and closing the canopy in flight because the hardware that holds the canopy on when it is open is marginal in my opinion. I'm always concerned about something letting go, even though all of my hardware is new. I don't have a problem controlling the airplane while I'm opening or closing the canopy in flight, but it just seems to put a lot of stress on the canopy while I'm doing it.
As a result, I hardly ever fly my plane with the canopy open any more. To be honest, I usually don't want it open anyhow, unless it's 100 degrees outside. Don B. has solved this problem with the air vents that he installed in the Plexiglas, but I just can't bring myself to cut the glass to install the vents. So my solution is to fly at higher altitudes whenever I can. It's usually plenty cool at 9,000 feet or so. The view is better too.
Try not to feel too bad for me though. My wife just intercepted me between the hangar and the house and informed me that this week I flew the Coupe today, yesterday, Sunday, and twice on Saturday. Busted! What can I say? It's been a good week so far! I even won $100.00 worth of Avgas Saturday in a little Air Regatta competition that our neighborhood airfield put on. Yup, this flying hobby can be pretty profitable, that's for sure! (Think the wife will buy that? I don't think so either!)
Best Regards,
Wayne DelRossi
Alon N5618F
Hours logged since restoration: 187.3 (but don't tell anybody!)
Wayne DelRossi
Alon N5618F
Hours logged since restoration: 187.3 (but don't tell anybody!)
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