ORIGINAL: firstplaceaviator
One of my friends was practicing his sequence in a Super Decathlon several years ago. His elevator cable failed while attempting to recover from a right hand spin. He was unable to push the door open, because it is on the right side of the plane. At 2000 Ft. AGL, he smashed the door open with his helmet and was able to exit the aircraft. Had he not been wearing a full face helmet, he probably would have died that day!
-MA
Interesting. When I was doing aerobatics training a few years back in a Super Decathlon the RHS door had removable hinge pins. Pull the pins and the door falls off. The same setup was on the Citabria that I was flying. The Pitts I flew also had an emergency jettison mechanism for the canopy. Your friend may not have had to use his head after all!
I was told to use the the 5 Hs in the Super D - (remove) headset, (unfasten) harness, (remove door) hinges, (exit) headfirst, (pull parachute) handle, if I had to bail out. Never did tho. What sense would it make to require a pilot to wear a parachute without providing an easy method for him/her to get out of the airplane if needed? We did use cloth helmets to keep out headsets on.
Regards,
Jerry