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RV3 Canopy Height??

J

judoka5051

Well Known Member
Good Evening fellow RV'ers,

I just made a canopy for an RV3, and it looks quite tall to me. Additionally, it doesn't run straight from top to tail, it has a bit of a dip in it. So, I figured I'd look at some 3's and see what the standard canopy looks like. They're all different! Some have the 'swoop' Like Paul Dye's (beautiful plane BTW) and others run straight from top to back. I can shorten the canopies, I can even take the swoop out. I just need to know what the norm is! Can anyone tell me how tall the plexi portion of a 3 canopy is at the highest point? And swoop or not?

In other news, I bought part of a machine to make drape formed canopies, and plan on making 6/7/9 canopies. Hope to have that going by march of 2018,,, after I finish the 8!

Thanks, Lance
 
You can find a bunch of photos here and here.

I personally like a bit of reflex curve at the aft end.

Could you include some dimensions and a photo of the canopy you made?

Dave
 
The canopy on our -3 is a Todd's "Tall Man" - not as short as the stock canopy from van's. We love it - gives a little more room in the cockpit, and we've had some very tall guys be able to get in and close the canopy. We didn't let them fly it of course.... ;)
 
Ironflight said:
The canopy on our -3 is a Todd's "Tall Man" - not as short as the stock canopy from van's. We love it - gives a little more room in the cockpit, and we've had some very tall guys be able to get in and close the canopy. We didn't let them fly it of course.... ;)
Click to expand...

Hi Paul. I was going to ask you to measure that when you get a chance, because I've still been wondering about the canopies myself. Just today, I measured approx 20" from the longerons to the highest portion on my current plane, but I haven't noticed if it has the dip in the back. I was worried about headroom before I bought this plane, but I have inches of headroom to spare.

I know Todd made a taller canopy for my old RV-3B, but I can't remember if I already had the canopy when you got the project. My old RV-3B canopy got damaged, and the owner replaced it with one that Todd made, but he didn't specify if he asked for more headroom. He measured his, and it's also 20" from longeron to the highest point.

What I'm starting to wonder is whether all canopies Todd made for the -3 were taller. If so, I probably know who's to blame for that :)

What makes me so curious is the fact that I plan to change mine from slider to tipover at some point, but I do need the extra headroom. It's definitely going to be tinted too. Of course Van's normal canopy might be taller these days as well, so I'll be interested to hear the results of other peoples measurements.

Thanks,
Rusty
 
13brv3 said:
Hi Paul. I was going to ask you to measure that when you get a chance, because I've still been wondering about the canopies myself. Just today, I measured approx 20" from the longerons to the highest portion on my current plane, but I haven't noticed if it has the dip in the back. I was worried about headroom before I bought this plane, but I have inches of headroom to spare.

I know Todd made a taller canopy for my old RV-3B, but I can't remember if I already had the canopy when you got the project. My old RV-3B canopy got damaged, and the owner replaced it with one that Todd made, but he didn't specify if he asked for more headroom. He measured his, and it's also 20" from longeron to the highest point.

What I'm starting to wonder is whether all canopies Todd made for the -3 were taller. If so, I probably know who's to blame for that :)

What makes me so curious is the fact that I plan to change mine from slider to tipover at some point, but I do need the extra headroom. It's definitely going to be tinted too. Of course Van's normal canopy might be taller these days as well, so I'll be interested to hear the results of other peoples measurements.

Thanks,
Rusty
Click to expand...

Our canopy come with the kit from you rusty - and we're very glad for it!

Paul
 
My 3B is just about finished, however the canopy is not on the plane at the moment so getting an accurate measurement is difficult. Best measurement I can get is 19 1/2 inches from longeron to the highest point. My canopy is a custom made slider based on rv8 design and uses vans stock bubble.
 
Thanks for the replies! And 1 more question..

I appreciate the responses. I see that even more pictures only confirmed that there's lots of variation. The canopy I made is 14 1/2 inches at the tallest point. Incidentally, figuring out how to get an exact height when forming a canopy was the steepest item in the learning curve! I'll post a pic on Monday when I get back to the grindstone.

I see that the two measured canopies were within 1/2 inch of each other (19 1/2" and 20") from the longeron. What's the distance from the longeron the the bottom of the canopy frame? I assume it's attached at the bottom tube like the RV8.

Thanks again, Lance
 
My canopy frame has two 3/8? diameter Crome molly tubes in the cockpit area, the upper one attaches the bottom of the plexi and the top of the skirt. This tube is 6 inches above the longeron. The lower tube holds the skirt spread to the correct width and is 2 1/2 inches above the longeron. I would have liked for this lower tube to be closer to the longeron, however this was the lowest I could put it and have it clear the seat back bulkhead when it slides back. Plexi, skirts and frame are all bonded together with Sikaflex.
 
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