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Aerocanopy for RV8

psychose

Member
Hello folks,

Hope you all had a good Xmas.

Went flying on Tuesday to do a short aileron rigging test. Some time during the flight heard a bang, had no idea what it was. Headed back to airport. Once back in the hangar, I noticed the huge crack in the canopy. It had continued from an incipient crack I had stopped-drilled during the build. It had held fine up to this point, but I guess the extreme cold temperature was too much for it this time.

Vans sells a new canopy for 1200$. Aircraft Spruce sells experimental canopies by Aerocanopy for 675$. Anyone have experience with these canopies? Would appreciate any advice.

For the record, I'm NOT looking forward to installing a new canopy...

Thanks in advance,

Normand
RV8 C-GNGN
 
Hello Ben,

I have seen this web site and am considering my options. Mine is a very clean crack and so far I've tried methylene chloride but there is a small gap caused by the stress that provoked the crack in the first place. I will probably need to use a thicker solvent to fill the void.

I'm still considering the replacement option as I doubt I will be satisfied with a repair that is less than perfect...

Thanks for rhe suggestion.

Normand
 
Hello Scott,

Yes, the original hole was a crack emanating from a pulled rivet hole. I probably did not enlarge the hole enough during the build.

regards,

Normand
 
Hi Normand, I believe that Lance Logan Stuart, FL Plane based at X58 purchased Todd's tools and is now making canopies. Username judoka5051. That might be an option.
 
Hi,

Yes I read that in some of the posts. Also read that Lance does not produce canopies using 1/4 inch acrylic as Todd apparenly did, but 3/16 inch as Vans and Aerocanopies do. So not sure if there is still a quality advantage.

I've ordered a Plastifix kit from ACS and will give it a try. It may keep me satisfied until I get the a/c painted.

Cheers

Normand
RV8 C-GNGN
 
Canopy thickness...

Good morning all,

Just stumbled onto this thread. Todd primarily used 3/16" material for all canopies. He would make a 1/4" canopy if you insisted. I bought the canopy for my 8A from him and originally want the 1/4 material. He talked me out of it, explaining that it was quite a bit heavier. He happened to have a 3/16 in stock at the time, so I bought and installed it with sikaflex. Messy, but worth it!

I'm fine with the 3/16" material, but, I plan on trying to form just the windshield portion out of 3/8" for those RV8 flyers concerned about bird strikes. Won't do me a bit of good though, mine's a fastback tip-up...

Regards, Lance

P.S. If you see this Doug, I'd like to advertise here. I emailed you a while back. You probably get a million a day though, so good luck finding it!

[email protected]
561-779-9932
 
Beware the cold.

Wow, that's the third cracked canopy I have heard of this week! The bitter cold that has enveloped most of the nation this week is bringing a rash of troubles to many. My canopy cracked in September on a 75-degree day! I have installed a new canopy with Sikaflex and hope to never have to do it again. Just curious, has anyone ever heard of a Sikeflexed canopy cracking?
 
Wow, that's the third cracked canopy I have heard of this week! The bitter cold that has enveloped most of the nation this week is bringing a rash of troubles to many. My canopy cracked in September on a 75-degree day! I have installed a new canopy with Sikaflex and hope to never have to do it again. Just curious, has anyone ever heard of a Sikeflexed canopy cracking?

We don't have much choice here if we wish to stay airborne in winter...-25C here this morning and a forecast today like this:

TAF CYOW 061138Z 0612/0712 28015G25KT P6SM BKN100 TEMPO 0612/0616 5SM BLSN BKN080 FM061600 29015G25KT P6SM SCT080 BECMG 0622/0624 29015KT FM070600 29010KT P6SM SKC BECMG 0708/0710 23005KT

However, although my brain is slightly frozen, I WONT go flying in this weather.

Normand is a fellow aviator here in the snowy north and his unfortunate experience led me to do some digging into cold embrittlement of acrylics.

Sorry to say, I couldn't find a lot ... the glass transition temperature didnt mean much in this case (being 85 to 165 degC)

I found one paper " Effect of Extreme Arctic Cold on Materials" http://collections.dartmouth.edu/arctica-beta/html/EA02b-02.html The only thing I learned here is that Acrylics are a good choice for use in the Arctic......

What I want to know is... How cold is TOO cold? And is cold really something we should worry about for our canopies?

My personal limit is about -20C (-4F).
 
Wow, that's the third cracked canopy I have heard of this week! The bitter cold that has enveloped most of the nation this week is bringing a rash of troubles to many. My canopy cracked in September on a 75-degree day! I have installed a new canopy with Sikaflex and hope to never have to do it again. Just curious, has anyone ever heard of a Sikeflexed canopy cracking?

Yes, a sikaflex canopy cracked without a single hole in it.
Several years ago, on a very cold day, my canopy cracked while parked outside Jay Pratt's hanger. I was there to work on the RV-1 restoration. Extreme cold is not good for RV-8 canopies. During my search for a replacement Aero Plastics canopy an RVer from New Mexico contacted me and said his Sikaflex canopy cracked in his hanger on a cold night. He said no holes were drilled in it. So yes, it can happen!

The expansion rate of the canopy and the frame are very different. I tried something new on the replacement canopy. I drilled all the holes to 1/4 inch. I cut inserts for the canopy holes out of 1/4 outside diameter silicone model airplane fuel line. The inside diameter of the fuel line is 1/8 as are the rivets. Therefore, the canopy has a lot more room to expand or contract without loading itself against an attachment rivet. In addition, the silicone inserts cushion the rivets and canopy from each other.

Knock on wood......So far so good!
 
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RV8 cracked canopy

Update:
I tried my hand at repairing the crack in my existing canopy using Plastifix, avail from Aircraft Spruce. I put about 50 hours of work trying to buff the acrylic clear again, both inside and outside surfaces. It's very discouraging to put so much work in order to achieve such a mediocre result. Lots of distortion and many scratches that I just can't seem to make disappear using the MicroMesh kit.

So I finally ordered a new canopy which I received from LP Aero Plastics yesterday. For a canopy with the Grey 2525 tint, they were 400$ cheaper than Vans or Spruce and about 250$ cheaper on shipping. It's now in my garage and waiting for install, which I will probably do next winter.

Still debating whether to Sikaflex or rivet (with very large holes!!!). For those on this thread who had cracks with a sikaflexed canopy, what thickness of Sika did you use? I hear that minimum 1/8 inch is required. Any pearls of wisdom on this?

Normand
RV8 C-GNGN
 
My SIKAflex'ed RV-8 canopy cracked at the back, left side on a cold high altitude flight. It started behind the back seat passenger, where the lower canopy frame tube joins the upper tube. The crack (fortunately) went straight up. I fixed it with Acrylafix, which lasted several months, then another cold air flight cracked the original line, plus farther. I had noticed a couple of RV-4 canopies with Targa stripes across the back, and the reason became instantly obvious, they must have cracked too!
I got out the Norton Cut Off Disc, and sliced the crack out, all the way across the top and down the other side for a perfect symmetrical line (for stress relief), and made a Targa strip, then ran it thru a sheet-metal roll until I got the perfect roll and taper. Then I SIKAflexed it on with some left over product and never looked back.
 
Is the Aerocanopy the Todd's profile? I'm going to need to replace the Canopy on my RV-8, but I've got the standard Van's bubble. What replacement options are there for the stock profile canopy?
 
Aerocanopy profile...

Good morning Evan,

The Aerocanopy RV8 canopy is the same profile as the Todd's canopy. I'm assuming that you're concerned about the windshield portion, and the intersection on the forward fuselage. I've considered making an apparatus to change the forward end of the form to produce the same profile as the factory canopies for those who want them. Unfortunately, I'll need to visit an 8 builder who has the canopy, but hasn't mounted it yet. I'll need to get a tracing of the forward two feet. That's nearly impossible right now since I'm limited to a 85 mph biplane for air travel!

Regards, Lance

P.S. Hey Doug, I'd like to advertise here, sent you a couple of emails some time ago. Please send me a rate card, thanks!
 
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It would be interesting to know where the different canopies are cracking. Rivets, screws, Sikaflex, other etc. We know of the cracks from screw/rivet holes, but is there a trend with the area of most natural canopy stress?

I have 16 years and 1600 hours on my 8 at well above 100 degrees and down to -20 degrees before takeoff with no cracks (yet). My canopy is installed with large holes and #6 screws holding the skirt, Pro-sealed on the sides only back to where the tubing necks down, #4 countersunk screws on the bow, with no attachment to the frame behind the tubing transition 2/3 back. The canopy required little to no pulldown to mate to the frame.

I have seen many posts describing pulling/clamping the canopy into position. Are these installers adding additional stresses that help lead to cracked canopies? If cracking with Sika this may be the case.

GM
 
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