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another cracked canopy

T

turbosaaber

Well Known Member
well....it happened and I'm on the way to the liquor store. I was trimming the front of my canopy to get the top to drop at the cabin frame, I have a tipup, and I lifted the canopy without dressing the edges and it cracked. the crack is 4" long and on the copilot side center front. I figure I still have more to trim...called van's and they said it was 1050 without shipping. I called todd's canopies, nice guy, but he only does 3/4/8's, he said stop drill and use weldon...to fuse it back together. Now the decision to live with it and build on, or bite the bullet and order another. Not sure what I'm going to do(other than to get drunk!) I figure after all is trimmed and glassed the crack would show 1.5" or so. Don't suppose anyone has a front half laying around.


Well off to the liquor store....
 
Sorry to hear about that. My left front didn't want to set on its own either. I just gave up and got some car windshield glue or polyurethane (black) and filled in the void and the windshield to aluminum all around the front. My thinking, try using it like secaflex and bond it to the canopy. I didn't want to push down on the windscreen so I filled in the gap and after it was dry I filled and sanded and filled until I liked the looks. Done.
 
thanks

For anyone looking, weld-on solvent for plexi and acrylics but they have so many different types...guess I will call them tomorrow and talk to an expert...just not sure which way to go over this... Todd tell's me that if I use weldon with a proper stop drill that it will not have a structural issue. Oh and I'm not drunk yet...
 
some visual arts...

may be... follow Todd's recommendations then ask an artist or designer for an idea. Possibly to blend the crack (if visible) in your paint scheme.... just a thought.

Added: do not drink, I've already done it...
 
I've also ruined a canopy, so to share your pain I'm going to have a drink tonight too.

I say continue on, but stop drill the canopy with a plexi drill and glue it first. After a week or two after its repaired you'll forget its there.
 
I were to get bummed everytime I... What I'm trying to say is I've been there, not on a cracked canopy but other things. I tried painting the top cowl, humidity was high, the thing went real bad, wasted a bunch of paint. I finally just threw it up on the rack and said later. Now the paint is really dry and sands easy, time to try again. I have dents in my rudder, argggg. How did they get there. I took out what I could and left the rest. I found scratches on my windscreen, must have been when I pulled plastic over it to protect it. Argggg. I know my other plane keeps getting little scratches here and there, it's a flying plane in a hanger all by itself. Arggg. I gave up on my plane being perfect a long time ago.

Take the advice and just stop drill it glue it and forget about it for a while and than see if it still bugs you.
 
Don't be to hard on yourself

I cracked my canopy on the right side about shoulder position on my 8A. I too was mad as heck, got drunk, and thought about buying a new one. I stop drilled it and chose to build on. Other than looking at it every once in a while, it is what it is. I figure a properly placed sticker should cover it up pretty well. If I were building a show plane I might have done it different, but I don't think it is going to bother me too much. Good luck, I'll drink one for your pain.

Randy
8A Finishing, FWF
 
thanks everyone

thanks for the support...I will get some weld-on 40 I think, and repair it and see if I can live with it. I'm on my second mango rum and coke and I'm feeling much better...still feel like a donkey but we are all human...
 
Sorry

Hi Carl,
Sorry to hear about the crack but I think you are on the right track, however I would switch to Don Julio.
 
cracked mine too

Cracked mine too, bit the bullet and got a new one. Now, I don't think about it any more and the money is long gone. Just another perspective...
 
Sorry to hear about your canopy. I haven't got to that yet. I remember an article on repairing plexi. It was either in Sport Aviation (EAA) or Kitplanes a couple of months ago about a guy that repaired a B25 top turret. You couldn't even notice when he was done. The article wasn't that good in describing the process or at least for me I couldn't follow along. I hope this helps. As I remember, he was somewhere around TPA.
Rick Maury
Emp/wings done
Working on the canoe.
 
I'l have one

I don't even have my canopy yet, and now I need a drink, thanks! :eek:

I'm pretty scared of the canopy, since I've broken every piece of plastic I've ever touched. I may go with Sikaflex just to drill less holes in it.

If I get it done with no cracks, I'll drink a triple Bruichladdich!
 
anyone use plastifix or weld-on

just curious if anyone has used this product on their rv canopy? I will talk to both companies in the am....plastifix and weld-on to see what would be best.
 
Carl,

My sympathies. I'll be drinking with you in spirit as well (Don Julio for me. Right on, N282S!).

Almost done with my canopy, which has been a long and painstaking process, but so far so good. Hoping to get through the last of it with no major mishaps. Being as careful as possible, but I know there's still always an element of chance. Man, if it cracked at this point, I'd probably put away a good part of that bottle... ;-)

I guess I'm trying to say, those of us who've been through as well as those of us who haven't, we all feel your pain. Hang in there, man. And let us know how the repair works out. Good luck!

-Roee
 
I don't know how warm it is in Florida at the time of the "cracking"; but when these canopies are really warm in the summer months; they can take all kinds of abuse. I recently seen a "Cub" type windscreen that was drilled for screw holes in the winter months with no heat, and it's got four cracks at the screw holes ---- already!

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
I just dont get it...

Sorry to hear about that Carl. I just dont get it. After I trimmed my canopy, I set out to purposefully crack my scrap pieces, just to test what I was up against. I put them in the freezer, drill them with split points, reamed them with split points, beat them with a hammer, twisted and bent them and abused them anyway I could think of. Not only was I not able to crack them, I could not even break them.
It gave me a lot more confidence through the canopy build (standard construction) and I have never had an issue. I just dont understand how you can barely breath on one and get a crack yet try to do it and not make it happen.
I am so sorry, but like others have said, stop drill, research the right glue, move on and you will never look back.
 
Scrap parts aren't under as any stress from being held into a position.

Also, I think even 10 degrees of temp swing can make a big difference. If you can time canopy work till summer and work in the sunlight...
 
Ouch ...

Sorry to hear that, Carl. I'm working on my tipper frame right now. Reading how innocently you got a 4" crack in that big hunk o' plastic gives me a "tightened sphincter moment.":eek:
 
When I cut mine it was like 90°F in the shade and I let mine sit out in the Sun for over an hour. It was like a limp noodle.

My advice for those yet to get to messing with it is to leave it in the crate until the temps come up!
 
turbosaaber said:
well....it happened and I'm on the way to the liquor store. I was trimming the front of my canopy to get the top to drop at the cabin frame, I have a tipup, and I lifted the canopy without dressing the edges and it cracked. the crack is 4" long and on the copilot side center front.
Click to expand...

My sympathies on realizing one of our biggest building fears....just knew the canopy on my tipper would crack as I drilled the last hole....but it didn't.

But I had decided in advance a crack would be the ideal location for an EAA decal.......it wouldn't keep me from flying. ;)

Build on!
 
I was not happy with an undiscovered deep scratch in my -6A (slider) canopy bubble and the 30-day time period was expired. So after consulting with Van's I bought a replacement windshield from their vendor. At that time, the supplier was Airplane Plastics in Tipp City, Ohio. As I recall, the cost for the replacement windshield with shipping was under $400. Of course, you have a tip-up version. Still, it wouldn't hurt to contact the company and see what they say.

http://www.springfieldaviation.com/airplane plastics.htm
 
canopy cracks

I did exactly the same thing to my RV4 canopy. Just about finished the cut, canopy moved and cracked at the point of most stress, the point where I was cutting.....of course right in the front. I cursed, swore, drank a bit as well. I then found the glue, fixed the crack as well as I could and moved on. The crack ended up about an inch above the faring when the aircraft was done. YTQ is ten years old now, the crack has never moved, I don't notice it and no one has ever mentioned it. Part of her personality.

Joe Hine
RV4 C-FYTQ
Fredericton, N.B.
 
called them

called the crisis hotline at van's and they said 1050 plus shipping..then called airplane plastics they said they have no seconds where i could their front and my back... worth a try...
 
Degrees of Agony

Pain! Pain! Pain! But at least you were doing something productive. I didn't crack my canopy, but was stupid enough when doing the initial trimming of the bottom, I became so engrossed with the "line" that I neglected the position of the running Dremel tool (why did I keep it running?) and put a large moon-shaped cut into the side of the canopy, near my right shoulder.

Beer helps -as does just walking away and finding some other part of the plane to work on. I then re-covered the whole canopy with paper, proceded to glue the canopy and skirts with maximum agonizing but minimal other damage, and have removed the paper, decided the cut was ugly but not a show stopper, will try to repair later, but in the meantime have self-declared canopy victory.

Did I mention - beer helps?
 
if it makes you feel any better, a couple days ago some teenagers with nothing better to do, threw a roll of pennys out their window on the highway as I was going in the opposite direction (probably a closing speed of at least 120 mph) and shattered my windshield. After I regained my senses, flipped around, caught up to them, called in their license plate, and tailed them until the cops showed up. The cops were not as kind to them.....
 
Tip for drilling plexiglass

Sorry this is too late to help your canopy, Carl, but I thought I'd share this tip for the benefit of the rest of us who have not yet had the chance to crack our canopy.

I just came across this video on EAA Hints for Homebuilders: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1431564069?bclid=1432781645&bctid=19802261001

They suggest to grind down the corner of the drill bit to give it a more rounded edge.

Drill.jpg


Apparently this prevents the drill bit from catching on the hole as it is coming through the other side, and thereby creating a stress fracture. It takes longer to drill the hole, but a little extra time seems well worth the extra margin of safety it seems to offer.
 
While this thread is active, I'm in the market for a rear canopy section for an RV7, Tip-Up; Send me a PM if you happen to have one laying about collecting dust;

Found a crack around one of the retainer screws, I'll use some weldon temporarily. Todd at ToddsCanopies says to put an EAA sticker on the crack and forget about it;

:)
 
Diamond saws

Just got 10 assorted diamond-on metal cut-off wheels off ebay. $10. I don't think I'll ever use a regular cut-off wheel on plexi again. These things flex like crazy. I just cut the door windows for the RV10 today and they cut twice as fast. Did two windows and the saw looks like new. These things will cut right around a corner, right on the line. Saves a ton of sanding time. For drilling holes, unless you have plexi bits & warm plexi, you might as well melt through with a tiny dremel stone or a drill bit in reverse. Watch it though cause these can drift as they melt through.
 
aerhed said:
For drilling holes, unless you have plexi bits & warm plexi, you might as well melt through with a tiny dremel stone or a drill bit in reverse. Watch it though cause these can drift as they melt through.
Click to expand...

Melting through the plexi is not advisable. Even if it doesn't drift, it can create stresses in the melted material surrounding the hole and increase the potential for future cracking. A plexi drill bit only costs a couple of bucks and will do the job right.
 
turbosaaber said:
well....it happened and I'm on the way to the liquor store. I was trimming the front of my canopy to get the top to drop at the cabin frame, I have a tipup, and I lifted the canopy without dressing the edges and it cracked. the crack is 4" long and on the copilot side center front. I figure I still have more to trim...called van's and they said it was 1050 without shipping. I called todd's canopies, nice guy, but he only does 3/4/8's, he said stop drill and use weldon...to fuse it back together. Now the decision to live with it and build on, or bite the bullet and order another. Not sure what I'm going to do(other than to get drunk!) I figure after all is trimmed and glassed the crack would show 1.5" or so. Don't suppose anyone has a front half laying around.


Well off to the liquor store....
Click to expand...

Stop drill it, and either use wider strips of glass to cover it up, or find some wide pin striping you can live with to cover it up. You might even try using a Vans decal
 
Tip on Stop Drilling....

When stop drilling plexiglas, drill slightly beyond the end of the crack and let the crack migrate into the hole. Often when you drill at the end of the crack, it will continue.
 
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