Bill,

 

On the 2 place Lancairs with forward hinged canopies in the open position there can be a “focused mirror” effect when the sun is behind the airplane at certain angles. It gets hot enough to melt plastic covering on the glare shield, usually in two small, specific spots. I suppose it could cause a fire but I’ve never heard of this happening. My guess (no hard scientific data here) is that the temp required to melt a small area of plastic is a lot lower than that required to actually start a fire in any of the materials that would likely be present in the dust cover. While this is certainly a nuisance, I really wouldn’t consider it a fire hazard.

 

Bill Harrelson

N5ZQ 320 1,850 hrs

N6ZQ  IV under construction