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Canopy alignment on frame

iamtheari

Well Known Member
I am at the point in the build where I have the canopy frame closed, latched, shimmed, and clamped to the roll bar, with the canopy resting on top of it, and every day I go push it around a millimeter here or there to try to perfect the alignment before I mark it and start hacking away at it. Then I work on something else because I'm afraid of messing up the canopy. Can those who went before offer some assurance?

I have the front edge of the canopy, specifically the bottom corner of the front edge, resting perfectly on the line on the template that's taped to the canopy skin, which should be nearly perfect but it's possible I messed that up too, since the aft edge of the canopy overlaps the window shim by a hair on the right side but has the correct spacing on the left side. The canopy sides are resting on the canopy rails. The canopy will need the clip at the front center to hold it down the little bit that it bulges up, and the screws on the aft frame will take care of the very slight bulge in the center of it.

I could also move the canopy forward across the line on the template and not have to trim the aft edge at all. It seems to fit just as well all around that way as it does exactly on the line.

All thoughts welcome. I need to get this canopy done so I can put the wheels and engine on the fuselage and get it out of the way for the wing kit that I just ordered. :)
 
The plastic changes with temperature so anything today will not be exactly the same tomorrow. Fitting in Summer will result in slightly different gap at the rear than Winter. Pick a happy medium and do the attaching, just go slow and it will come out fine.
 
More trimming bay be necessary

I tried very very hard to fit my canopy without cutting off the aft edge, but finally trimmed a quarter inch off there; that made the front abd back fit perfectly. Then i discovered I also had to remove 1/8? or 3/16? from both sides. Hated the thought of doing it, but when properly trimmed, it just solved all the fit problems.
 
I just did this myself last week and needed to trim a small amount (maybe ¼") off one side of the canopy's aft edge tapering to nearly zero in the middle and increasing to perhaps 3/16" on the other side. With that done, the front sat down properly all the way across with, as the manual says, "light finger pressure". I'll install three clips in accordance with the instructions and call it good for fiberglassing.

I installed the wear strips yesterday and painted my seal retainers. I'm waiting for delivery of my canopy fairing templates from Van's (apparently omitted from a number of finish kits and not discovered by me until yesterday), so the rear seal will go on today.

It'll be Tuesday or Wednesday before I'm ready to commence glassing, so I'll probably do the seatbacks and other interior miscellany over the next few days. Gotta stay productive...

Anyway, go ahead and trim the canopy edges as necessary. Go slow, but don't be afraid of it.
 
I am at the point in the build where I have the canopy frame closed, latched, shimmed, and clamped to the roll bar, with the canopy resting on top of it, and every day I go push it around a millimeter here or there to try to perfect the alignment before I mark it and start hacking away at it. Then I work on something else because I'm afraid of messing up the canopy. Can those who went before offer some assurance?

I have the front edge of the canopy, specifically the bottom corner of the front edge, resting perfectly on the line on the template that's taped to the canopy skin, which should be nearly perfect but it's possible I messed that up too, since the aft edge of the canopy overlaps the window shim by a hair on the right side but has the correct spacing on the left side. The canopy sides are resting on the canopy rails. The canopy will need the clip at the front center to hold it down the little bit that it bulges up, and the screws on the aft frame will take care of the very slight bulge in the center of it.

I could also move the canopy forward across the line on the template and not have to trim the aft edge at all. It seems to fit just as well all around that way as it does exactly on the line.

All thoughts welcome. I need to get this canopy done so I can put the wheels and engine on the fuselage and get it out of the way for the wing kit that I just ordered. :)

I moved mine forward a smidge past the line. It made the sides fit better.
 
I just did this myself last week and needed to trim a small amount (maybe ?") off one side of the canopy's aft edge tapering to nearly zero in the middle and increasing to perhaps 3/16" on the other side. With that done, the front sat down properly all the way across with, as the manual says, "light finger pressure". I'll install three clips in accordance with the instructions and call it good for fiberglassing.

I installed the wear strips yesterday and painted my seal retainers. I'm waiting for delivery of my canopy fairing templates from Van's (apparently omitted from a number of finish kits and not discovered by me until yesterday), so the rear seal will go on today.

It'll be Tuesday or Wednesday before I'm ready to commence glassing, so I'll probably do the seatbacks and other interior miscellany over the next few days. Gotta stay productive...

Anyway, go ahead and trim the canopy edges as necessary. Go slow, but don't be afraid of it.
I'm glad you posted this, because tonight I realized that I also don't have the canopy fairing templates (referred to at page 38-25 step 9). I would probably go nuts looking for them if I didn't already know about the possibility that they were omitted from the kit. Here's hoping they will show up before the weekend does, so I can make good use of the one weekend I'm actually home this month!
 
I'm glad you posted this, because tonight I realized that I also don't have the canopy fairing templates (referred to at page 38-25 step 9). I would probably go nuts looking for them if I didn't already know about the possibility that they were omitted from the kit. Here's hoping they will show up before the weekend does, so I can make good use of the one weekend I'm actually home this month!

Van's can send you the file that you can have printed at a local print shop...
 
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