A YAK50 CANOPY CLOSURE MECHANISM FAILED DURING DEP; FORCING THE PLT TO LAND AT A NEARBY FIELD BEYOND CLASS B AND TFR AIRSPACE.

Narrative

AFTER TKOF ON RWY 15 (WITH A R DOWNWIND DEP) AT ZZZ; I WAS MAINTAINING AN ALT BELOW 2000 FT TO REMAIN CLR OF ZZZ1 CLASS B AIRSPACE WHILE HDG NW. MY INTENTION WAS TO MAINTAIN THIS HDG UNTIL REACHING A POINT UNDER THE CLASS B WHERE I COULD THEN CLB TO 4500 FT TO AVOID THE TFR AND ALSO STILL REMAIN UNDER THE CLASS B AIRSPACE WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CONTACTING DEP CTL. ZZZ1 AIRSPACE IS QUITE COMPLICATED WITH NUMEROUS ALT RESTRS; ALONG WITH RESTR AIRSPACE IN NUMEROUS AREAS. ABOUT 5 MI OUT FROM ZZZ AND ABOUT 164 KIAS; MY CANOPY OPENED BY ITSELF VERY SUDDENLY WITHOUT ANY WARNING WHATSOEVER. IMMEDIATELY ALL MY MAPS WERE SUCKED OUT OF THE COCKPIT; MY HEADSET WAS BLOWN OFF; AND MY GLASSES FLEW UP AND OFF MY FACE. NOTE: MAX ALLOWABLE AIRSPD WITH THE CANOPY OPEN IS BELOW 120 MPH. I IMMEDIATELY SLOWED THE ACFT AND STARTED TO CIRCLE TO REGAIN MY BEARINGS. WHEN I TRIED TO CLOSE THE CANOPY AND LOCK IT IN PLACE; IT WOULD OPEN AGAIN AS SOON AS I LET GO OF THE LEVER. I WAS LATER TO FIND OUT THAT A NUT HAD FALLEN OFF; AND THE SPRING THAT HOLDS DOWN THE PIN THAT STICKS THROUGH THE CANOPY RAIL AND HOLDS THE CANOPY CLOSED HAD THEN COME OFF TOO. THIS KEPT ANY FORCE FROM BEING APPLIED TO THE PIN ITSELF TO KEEP IT FROM COMING BACK UP AND OUT FROM NORMAL ACFT VIBRATION; AND THUS ALLOWING THE CANOPY TO OPEN AGAIN; WHICH IT DID EVERY TIME I LET GO OF THE HANDLE CTLING THIS PIN. MY HEADSET WAS STILL IN THE ACFT BUT WAS BEHIND ME WHERE I COULD NOT REACH IT. MY GPS IS AN APOLLO 360 MODEL AND ONLY GIVES ARPT 3 LETTER IDENTS AND WAS NOT VERY HELPFUL FOR SHOWING ME WHERE I WAS IN RELATION TO THE PARTICULAR LAYER I WAS IN UNDER THE CLASS B AIRSPACE; OR FOR SHOWING ME HOW CLOSE I WAS NOW TO THE TFR. I DECIDED TO TAKE A HDG OF AROUND 210 DEGS WHICH I PLANNED WOULD EVENTUALLY TAKE ME BEYOND THE CLASS B COMPLETELY AND WOULD AVOID THE TFR. AFTER FLYING AROUND 210 DEGS UNTIL MY GPS SHOWED ME WELL BEYOND THE ZZZ1 CLASS B; I THEN FLEW DUE N AND WENT TO THE E AROUND A RESTR AREA (SHOWN ON MY GPS);AND THEN WENT FURTHER E (JUST TO THE N OF THE ZZZ1 CLASS B) UNTIL I SAW AN UNCTLED ARPT NEAR THE COASTLINE. I LANDED THERE AND AFTER REMOVING THE PLT'S SEAT AND SPENDING ABOUT 1 HR SEARCHING; RECOVERED MY HEADSET; MY GLASSES; THE CANOPY SPRING; AND EVEN THE WAYWARD NUT. I PUT EVERYTHING BACK IN PLACE; OBTAINED SOME NEW MAPS; AND RETURNED TO ZZZ2 WITHOUT FURTHER EVENT. SINCE THEN I HAVE DRILLED A HOLE AND HAVE PUT IN A METAL RING THAT WILL PREVENT THE NUT (AND THUS THE SPRING) FROM EVER COMING COMPLETELY OFF AGAIN BY ITSELF. DURING THIS EVENT; I INITIALLY LOST A LOT OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND HAD TO RELY ON MEMORY CONCERNING THE DETAILS OF THE ZZZ1 CLASS B AIRSPACE ALT LIMITATIONS; THE TFR; ETC. IN THE END; I CONCENTRATED ON JUST FLYING THE AIRPLANE AND AVOIDING ANY CLOSE CALLS WITH OTHER ACFT. A PREVIOUS INCIDENT REGARDING FUEL IN THE COCKPIT WITH THIS ACFT WENT A LONG WAY TOWARDS ALLOWING ME TO KEEP CALM AND JUST HANDLE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.