Flattening top front canopy frame bow?

Back for more suggestions on the canopy frame... This is fun. </sarc>

Okay, so I've managed to bend in the front and aft bows to their proper measurements, accounting for how much the canopy itself will pull back out the frame, and my sika fillets. I've refit the frame to the fuselage. That was fun in itself, since pulling everything in narrow also means the canopy tracks have to be unclamped and let float. I don't have clamps strong enough to hold the tracks in place while tolerating the pull-back at the rollers.

Anyway... Here's the clincher I'm looking for suggestions on. The act of narrowing the front bow has raised the top of the front bow, where the fore-aft tube mates and the handle hole is, up to just under 1" above the roll bar. The rest of the bow is still at the original 3/16".

Anyone have any bright ideas for flattening out the top of the front bow? Earlier tonight, I ratchet-strapped the front side tubes to maintain the narrower width, put some plywood "padding" on top of the joint where the latch handle frame hole is (ouch), and just started bounce-sitting on the frame, seeing if I could force it down. The technique was okay for a few bounces, until I lost my grip on everything, slid off the frame, and landed on my rear. That was enough for tonight.

I think that gained me maybe 3/16 - 1/4". Still 1/2" to go, at least.

Any better ideas?

Have you looked at THIS help document?
It tries to explain the interactions between different parts of the frame and how to deal with them.

Actually that whole article is included in the 9's plans pretty much verbatim, so yes. I think I'm at the point of not so much knowing "where" to bend, but "how".

The canopy frame was by far the most frustrating part of the entire build for me. I'd rather take a beating than go through that again. Once I finally got mine to a point where it worked, I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and threw the cap away.

Frustration - check. Bottle of bourbon - check. Neighbors came out last night and actually asking if that was me banging around or another neighbor working on their garage project - check.

Sitting here in my office, reading through morning emails, I was actually starting to think of this... I don't weigh much, relatively (140lbs), and so far "impulse" bends involving a bounce or similar action on a tube tend to work better with my lack of girth. So I think tonight I might just take the frame downstairs back in the condo, ratchet-strap the side tubes so they don't spread again, step up on a chair, and just start carefully stepping (or even controlled stomping) on the still-duct-tape-padded-from-the-factory latch handle joint. We'll see if that induces enough downward bend just at the top to make some headway.

At worst, it'll give me another reason tonight to open back up the bourbon bottle.

I can loan you 60# or so. Heck, you can have 'em, no need to return anything.

Sigh... I should have no problem bending mine.

Yeah, you can keep it Dale. I'm sure Fedex would consider that "Hazardous Material" or a "Biohazard" for shipping.

I just flashed on Brad Pitt making soap in Fight Club.

Scott, I feel your pain. As other have said, it's probably the most challenging aspect of the whole build. Sometimes you'll bend a hoop to where it's **nearly** perfect, and in trying to finesse it that last little bit, you make it far worse. I was sore for about three days after bending mine. Hardest part was twisting the "spine" part of the frame....axially, both front and rear hoops were out of alignment, so I bolted it to the workbench through the canopy latch tube, grabbed the rear hoop and twisted it till my muscles screamed. Bowflex times 10!!

I found this rig very useful. I wish I had built it before worsening some of the bends by leaning on the frame with my 205 lb.