The RV-7 comes with an option for either a tip-up canopy or a sliding canopy. There are a few differences that must be taken into account. First, the tip-up canopy provides better visibility than the sliding canopy, which has a support bar just in front of the occupants. While taxiing on the ground, the sliding canopy can be opened and the pilot's arm hung over the side of the fuselage... this makes for a cool pilot in more ways than one. ;) The tip-up canopy can also be ventilated on the ground by tipping it up just a bit, though the ventilation is not as great. There has been some talk of one type of canopy being safer than the other. This talk revolves around a situation where the airplane ends up upside-down on the ground after a crash. Some think that the sliding canopy provides more support with the support bar being where it is. The sliding canopy would also likely open more easily than the tip-up canopy. Overall, I would have to imagine that the sliding canopy is safer, but this is more of my gut feeling than anything. While these safety aspects have been discussed on a few online forums, I haven't really seen any documentation from Van's regarding the safety of one canopy compared to the other.
One issue that is of some concern that has been reliably documented is the ability of each canopy to provide a water-tight environment inside the cockpit. There have been some reports of water leaking into the back side of the instrument panel on RVs with the tip-up canopy. As you can imagine, this is a very bad thing. When it's all said and done, I will have spent thousands of dollars on instruments. Water is about the last thing I want those instruments exposed to. So I will definitely consider this in my decision. But, just because of the design of each, one thing that the tip-up canopy does provide that the slider doesn't is easy access to the back of the instrument panel. This will be a big deal when I need to make repairs or changes to my instrument panel. If I choose to go with the sliding canopy, though, I can do a couple things with the panel to provide a little better access, like install a sectional panel so I can remove certain parts of it to do work on the back of the instruments and radios.
I can't say I have my mind completely made up on this option right now. I am definitely leaning toward the sliding canopy. It just looks way too cool and has no reports of water leaking on the instruments. I know with the sliding canopy I'd be giving up some visibility, which is making me second-guess this choice. At some point, I'm hoping to catch a ride in RVs with each type of canopy and decide which one I like best after that.
One issue that is of some concern that has been reliably documented is the ability of each canopy to provide a water-tight environment inside the cockpit. There have been some reports of water leaking into the back side of the instrument panel on RVs with the tip-up canopy. As you can imagine, this is a very bad thing. When it's all said and done, I will have spent thousands of dollars on instruments. Water is about the last thing I want those instruments exposed to. So I will definitely consider this in my decision. But, just because of the design of each, one thing that the tip-up canopy does provide that the slider doesn't is easy access to the back of the instrument panel. This will be a big deal when I need to make repairs or changes to my instrument panel. If I choose to go with the sliding canopy, though, I can do a couple things with the panel to provide a little better access, like install a sectional panel so I can remove certain parts of it to do work on the back of the instruments and radios.
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| RV-7 with slider canopy |
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| RV-7 with tip-up canopy |
I can't say I have my mind completely made up on this option right now. I am definitely leaning toward the sliding canopy. It just looks way too cool and has no reports of water leaking on the instruments. I know with the sliding canopy I'd be giving up some visibility, which is making me second-guess this choice. At some point, I'm hoping to catch a ride in RVs with each type of canopy and decide which one I like best after that.
