Pitts S-2 All Series
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Commercial; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 13; Flight Crew Total 561; Flight Crew Type 11
Distraction
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Rejected Takeoff; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Human Factors; Aircraft
Within the first 100 feet of the takeoff roll; the canopy of the aircraft departed. The canopy exited to the right side of the fuselage and contacted the runway. The canopy did not impact the airframe. I closed the throttle and brought the aircraft to a stop; then taxied back to the ramp. Bystanders recovered the canopy from the runway. No injuries resulted. I performed a 'Canopy Closed and Locked' callout and visual check during the pre-takeoff phase. I did not reach up and test the knob with my hands to see that it was in the proper position. Doing so might have prevented the occurrence. This was also my first flight of the season in this aircraft. Normal jitters about the flight (the first aerobatic flight of the season after not having flown aerobatics since the previous summer) might have distracted me from performing the touch verification suggested above.
Following the pilot's failure to do a hands on security check prior to departure the canopy of a Pitts S-2B separated and blew clear of the aircraft early in the takeoff roll.  No other part of the aircraft was damaged and no one was injured.