Larry,

Since Phil Lankford with a "K" is the only Q-Pilot I know of that
survived a serious crash in which he and his wife had gas all over them
and lived to talk about it, I thought he might be a good place to
start. I've talked with Phil at some length and we both agree
installing a crash hammer in the cockpit may create a false sense of
security. Its like pissing in the wind, its kind of fun but doesn't get
you anywhere.

1). You presume you will be conscious enough to use a hammer and 2).
that a crash hammer would even work. Have you ever tried breaking out a
rounded lexan canopy so that you know it works? Has anyone? I'm
convinced this is an area that needs to be addressed NOW by some of our
resident wizards. I love my airplane but I am very concerned about this
negative scenerio. It can happen to anyone regardless of their
abilities.

I designed my canopy with a simple quick disconnect system that allows
it to be jettisoned in a couple of seconds. This may save me in an
inflight to ground situation like Phil's but does nothing for a landing
that goes bad and inverts the plane quickly with me going unconscious.
Phil said when he was upside down, he unlatched his belt, rolled around
and got his feet on the ground and pushed the plane up and off of him
and Sherry. He didn't feel a crash hammer would have done much good.
Luckily for him, the canopy already ripped off. In fact he was very
happy the canopy was gone.

I believe the problem is serious enough, it's time we collectively came
up with a solution that would be best treated like an AD.

There have simply been to many people burned up in these planes.

Regards,
Jim Patillo

P.S. I don't express my views much anymore on this site but this one
needs to be addressed and resolved!