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Page 38-25 steps 10-11 - ?approximately?

iamtheari

Well Known Member
I am a lucky builder who had to get the 24x36 canopy templates page printed from a PDF. I now have the side templates printed, cut out, and taped to my plane. However, the edge that defines the fairing comes out to 5/16? aft of the forward canopy line at Point Sierra on both sides of the canopy. Given that the templates go perfectly from the aft edge of C-01418 to where I marked Point Sierra, I don?t feel it?s too likely they are printed out of proportion. The plans say that the outboard fairing line and forward fairing line should ?approximately? line up. The plans don?t say what to do if they are off by 1/4? or so. Any ideas?
 
I had to print mine out using a printer as well. I don't recall there being any alignment issues. The most critical alignment issue is the aft edge that contacts the plexiglass, as that may have an impact on aesthetics. If the forward edges don't line up perfectly you should be able to correct and blend all of that with micro/filler after performing the layups. You can also redraw the template a little wider fore and aft to make them lineup better. You can cut out the template and trace the template a little larger on the forward side.
 
I used the template from Van's and had the same concerns. It didn't appear that they would cover correctly. Plus, when watching the video's on the process the template cutout looks completely different and caused panic after I already cut everything. Move on you will see that everything lays out nicely and as the video shows, if there are some small pieced you need to cut, just do it. Sanding will fix everything.
 
The first video on the canopy fairing (RV-14 38-01) shows the area already taped off and scuffed. The taping happens after where I am at. So maybe I was not entirely precise on describing which templates I'm concerned about.

The process is this:

Page 38-21 step 1: Tape the template from page 38-39 to the canopy skin. This defines the forward edge of the acrylic canopy. That worked out fine and the template from the plans matched my skin perfectly.

Page 38-25 step 3: Scribe the aft fairing line 7/8" up from the edge of the acrylic canopy.

Page 38-25 step 7: Use a 2" straight edge to define the forward fairing line on the canopy skin, 2" diagonal forward of the aft fairing line previously scribed. Mark the point where the the begins to flatten out as Point Sierra.

Page 38-25 step 11: Using the side templates from the 24x36 separate sheet, which match up to the aft and bottom edges of the forward canopy skin, mark the outboard forward fairing line along the curved edge of the templates. The plans say that this line should "approximately align with the forward fairing line" from step 7. That alignment is what I'm not getting. It's off by 5/16" on both sides.

The side templates seem to match up perfectly to everything else, other than the forward fairing line. So I think they're the right size. But there is no scale on the page to check if the printing was done correctly. And the fact that the line is off by such a large amount makes me think that something went wrong.

Do I adjust the rest of the forward fairing line aft by 5/16"? Do I move the side templates forward by 5/16"? Do I freehand a line to connect the two?
 
Do I freehand a line to connect the two?

Exactly this. Just freehand/eyeball the line and make it connect. While 5/16" is a significant difference in aluminum, it's trivial in fiberglass. Sanding and filling later (to say nothing of paint!) will make it all come out perfectly in the end.

Build on!
 
Exactly this. Just freehand/eyeball the line and make it connect. While 5/16" is a significant difference in aluminum, it's trivial in fiberglass. Sanding and filling later (to say nothing of paint!) will make it all come out perfectly in the end.

Build on!

Correct
And keep in mind that we are using a paper template that will only flat wrap in one plane by the shape we are trying top define is compound (it is curving in multiple directions). That makes it impossible to to make a paper template that will perfectly define all of the edges within a 32nd of an inch.
 
Correct
And keep in mind that we are using a paper template that will only flat wrap in one plane by the shape we are trying top define is compound (it is curving in multiple directions). That makes it impossible to to make a paper template that will perfectly define all of the edges within a 32nd of an inch.

Make sure you tell the guys at the shop tomorrow how much time you're saving them from my phone calls!

Thanks to all who posted. I'll do the best I can to trim the templates and make this work out. :)
 
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