RV-8 Canopy Skirt Fitting & Drilling

I'm getting ready to fit and drill my RV8 canopy skirt- the manual says to drill from back to front, while a few posts in the archive suggest drilling from front to back is the way to go. There is no reason given on drilling from front to back but reading between the lines seems to suggest by drilling the front first, the skirt is firmly anchored along the sides so the back can be more easily leveraged up, thereby helping the back edge make contact with the aft deck (ie no gaps). Is that the correct interpretation for drilling from front to back? I don't see any posts in the archive saying their experience of the manual's back to front being the best way to proceed. Any advice from those who have gone before me is greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Sam

I just got done doing this on my 8. YES you do want to go from front to back (at least I did) following lots of other examples before us.

The issue is, in order to get the rear sides to pull in TIGHT you have to bend the rear up quite a bit. I can't imagine getting it right starting from the rear without having to cut the skirt on the sides or other drastic steps.

One thing I learned, do both sides at the same time. Get all of the front rivets drilled in place on both sides, then pull both of the tails in place and use long strips of duct tape to hold them down tight and in place. Make sure both sides are pulled in tightly an they use your measurements and lineup lines to drill the holes around the rear. In my case I did one side then the other and the canopy shifted and I had gaps. So I filled the holes and did it again with both sides at once and it came out perfect!

Here's some pictures from mine. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=891103&postcount=100

Good luck!

Sam

This is how I did mine and it turned out great.

The logs are slightly spread out but all are visible here.

Hope this helps?

Thanks guys, the pictures helped quite a bit.

Sam

Andy
Those are some great photos- I can see a lot of detail, and nice job on the skirt fit. It looks like you might have used a different technique, than the intersecting two lines, to locate the plexiglass holes?

Thanks,
Sam

I found it easier to just draw a single line up from the hole and make a mark at 2 inches up from the hole. Then I just lined up my small ruler and made a short line and cross mark 2 inches down on the fiberglass. I was able to hit all the holes just fine that way and seemed faster.