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Canopy Skirt Fit

wfinnell

Well Known Member
Hi Guys,

I am having some trouble with my canopy skirt. I have bonded on my canopy and it has no holes in it. I have the skirt fitted and clecoed to the frame. On the upper flange, where it overlaps the canopy I was unable to get it to fit very well. In some places, it touches, but in many places, it is angled away from the canopy, leaving a gap. I am planning on pop-riveting the skirt to the frame. The same topic was discussed in this thread.

In the thread there were a couple of different suggestions proposed, but I was thinking about just cutting off the upper lip and laying up a new lip directly onto the acrylic like band around the base of the windscreen. Since I don’t have any way to secure the aft end of the skirt, accept bonding, I was thinking it might be a little more secure.

Does anyone have any experience with this approach?

Thanks in advance,
 
I slit my skirts...horizontally ..along the crease line...(from about halfway along the side all round the back!)....at the top of the skirt where it attaches to the plexiglass canopy! ...This allowed it to fall nicelly onto the airframe...I than put temporary 'tacks' of fibreglass /microballons ..to hold it...and let it settle for a couple of weeks!...I then fully filled the gap...and fibreglassed it ...It is as 'near as dammit' perfect!!...can.t get a cigarette paper under it...whereas before I could put my hand under the rear skirt!...send me your email...I.ll send some photos!!..rgds to all stan...
 
Hi Guys,

On the upper flange, where it overlaps the canopy I was unable to get it to fit very well????..
I was thinking about just cutting off the upper lip and laying up a new lip directly onto the acrylic like band around the base of the windscreen.

Does anyone have any experience with this approach?

Thanks in advance,

I just did this, will post some pic's later today
J.
 
What I did.......

Start reading here and move forward with the build log to see what I did. I had read about folks doing this to the rear of the skirt and decided it was the only way for me to get a good fit. I didn't have any fiberglass skills at all so I read a lot of Dan Hortons reports. It was a huge leap of faith but, it turned out very well I think...... Splitting the skirt would be a lot less work, however mine was way off....

http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displ...&project=831&category=10251&log=218187&row=21
 
Only used a small portion of the original skirt,


DSC04369_zpspubiazym.jpg


Used Dacron to bridge the gap, glued and then apply heat to shrink to fit
IMG_3063_zpspkotvofj.jpg


DSC04367_zps4wtlzid8.jpg


Ready to lay up plies of glass
DSC04361_zps8ubkp992.jpg


DSC04382_zpsejecnj4r.jpg


DSC04391_zpsbpaldrnj.jpg


DSC04404_zpsy0h62y2h.jpg


Used Sika adhesive to adhere to canopy, rivets in frame, No holes in Canopy
DSC04706_zpsn4c12eqs.jpg


DSC04729_zpshrkmulmu.jpg


Final finish ready for paint
DSC05084_zps2mfnbzex.jpg


NOTE:
Glued the skirt on @ 70F degrees stabilized shop temperature which I prefer for
a middle of the road temp due to expansion-contraction for here in the midwest.

THE FIT WILL CHANGE WITH TEMPERATURE !!!

J.
 
Follow up questions...

Jake, Tim,
Both of you guys do wonderful work! I am blown away by the quality of your work. Now that I have had some time to look at your excellent workmanship, I have a couple of follow up questions.

Jake,
What kind of glue did you use to glue the Dacron to the plane? I assume you glue it to the canopy too? I have not really worked with cloth before. will a normal iron will work to shrink it down? How much artistry is involved?

Tim,
What kind of clay did you use, and how much did you buy?

Thank you again for all you help,
 
Canopy shirt

Track detail:

sapeloson
How did you get the rear area over the track so perfect?

DSC04370_zpsx83qwt5l.jpg


DSC04371_zpsum0xwkis.jpg


Apply mold release to fabric
DSC04402_zpskcbujc6n.jpg


Note the wood block under frame to keep shrinking fabric from pulling the frame down. Used simple playdough for mold.
DSC04423_zpsncqq3fjg.jpg


DSC04385_zpsis1vvdw5.jpg


Some Micro was used on the inside to get the radius just right
photo-14%20copy_zpscfrx4qip.jpg





Jake,
What kind of glue did you use to glue the Dacron to the plane? I assume you glue it to the canopy too? I have not really worked with cloth before. will a normal iron will work to shrink it down? How much artistry is involved?


image_zpspo2mow02.jpeg


Glue to both, apply adhesive, then fabric, then more adhesive to encapsulate fabric at the bonding area.
Use a heat gun to shrink the Dacron.

Artistry???? A touch of OCD helps.

J.
 
Last edited:
Glass Skirt

Beautiful work Jared. Did you have any trouble removing adhesive from fuselage after skirt layup? Did you use any mold release on the Dacron before layup? Thanks

Don Broussard

RV9 Rebuild in Progress
57 Pacer
 
The fuselage has a layer of clear packing tape applied that allows the cured layup to separate quite easily. This was applied first and then the dacron which had a brush coat of liquid mold release applied prior to layup which consisted of 4 layers of 8.5 oz E-Glass cloth.

Clear packing tape is your best friend for mold release where applicable and clean-up is effortless.
 
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