Question, the canopy comes off the Pitts easy enough, is it still pleasant to fly with it off?
Surprisingly pleasant, especially if you have a helmet. I had to take the canopy off my S-1D as it no longer fit properly, and I expected it to be a lot slower and windier. I was told to expect 10 mph off my airspeed for most things due to the increased drag. The reality was no change at all, which makes me think my blown canopy was creating as much drag as the open cockpit does. If your S-1C has a streamlined canopy, I would guess the drag penalty would be more noticeable. And it's not only not much windier but it's great to be able to wipe dead bugs off the windscreen in flight! Keep your chart stowed, though!
I'm enjoying flying it open much more than I thought I would and, as I've suffered no performance penalty, I'm in no rush to put a new canopy back on until winter. It does make me just that little bit leary the first time I roll inverted on every flight, though, and the pre-flight is a bit different:
"Hatches and har....oh, right. no hatch. Check!
Harness secure...cinch, cinch, cinch. Hope so!"
Speaking of new canopy...Stik?