Van's Air Force
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Canopy Fit
- Thread starter BruceMe
- Start date
az_gila
Well Known Member
There was a change in the mid 90's IIRC. The later model came a lot further forward and on a -6 tip-up almost reached the forward edge.
If you slide the new one back so the front edges are the same you may have fit problems at the roll bar.
Ask Vas for the sketch they shipped with the first few years of the new canopy.
Maybe it was to do with the change in the canopy for the sliders, where (again IIRC) the forward portion used to be a separate molding, and is now cut from a single plexi piece..
BruceMe
Well Known Member
I'm going to start by making conservative cuts to get it close... I'll probably post what I do as I'm doing it on my blog.
I did a custom canopy on my RV-4. I vaguely remember doing the final cut/fit, but that was like 10 years ago and I've forgotten exactly what to do. I'll wrap it in tape, trim a little (< 1/2") at a time and take it nice and slow with the die grinder.
Any words to the wise?
I did a custom canopy on my RV-4. I vaguely remember doing the final cut/fit, but that was like 10 years ago and I've forgotten exactly what to do. I'll wrap it in tape, trim a little (< 1/2") at a time and take it nice and slow with the die grinder.
Any words to the wise?
BruceMe
Well Known Member
RV-6 canopy fit words to the wise
If anyone is reading this thread years from now... words to the wise:
- The RV-7/9 canopy is huge on the -6, but can be trimmed down to work
- Trim off the ruff bits and corners first
- Don't touch the back until the front is done
- Trim the front to the deck 1/2" at a time as much as possible with everything pushed as far forward as possible.
- When you make the big cut, think about where the two halves will lie after they're cut. Just think ahead.
I'll update this post as I go to add more if I find it.
If anyone is reading this thread years from now... words to the wise:
- The RV-7/9 canopy is huge on the -6, but can be trimmed down to work
- Trim off the ruff bits and corners first
- Don't touch the back until the front is done
- Trim the front to the deck 1/2" at a time as much as possible with everything pushed as far forward as possible.
- When you make the big cut, think about where the two halves will lie after they're cut. Just think ahead.
I'll update this post as I go to add more if I find it.
Added clarification.......
The RV-6 and the RV-7/9 canopy frames are basically the same overall dimension.
An extensive amount of trimming on the canopy is required for all three models.
