Canopy Fitting

I thought my canopy build was going pretty well until this morning. I finished drilling all the holes common to the side skirts and canopy frame yesterday. I put the canopy onto the fuselage and saw this rather large gap at the bottom of the forward edge (see below). Looks like I would have to take a half inch or more off the front bow of the canopy frame to bring this edge down to meet the fuselage side skin. Anyone else have to get this aggressive to get a proper fit?

Thanks in advance,
Michael

I think I would make a new side skirt.

One Option

D Weisgerber said:

I think I would make a new side skirt.

Click to expand...

That's one way to go. Although, if I move the skirt down that much I'll lose the edge distance on the canopy fasteners if they're still on the skirt at all.

Trimming canopy frame

Hold up there!
Vans leaves the legs long on purpose but don't cut to final dimension yet.

First, temp install the roll bar. Set it close to 90? but don't mess with the brace yet. Install the brace last after the canopy is finished and roll bar is ready to be installed. The brace has to be cut to fit and sometimes the roll bar needs to be shimmed a tiny bit to match the canopy bow.

Cut the legs so the top of the canopy bow is 3/8" or a little more above the roll bar. Check the plans for detail. I used a tubing cutter.

That's just a starting point. Final cut should be done after the canopy is attached and roll bar installed. Get close but don't cutbtoo much. Once those legs are drilled for rollers, you can't add.
BTW, if you choose to do a one piece skirt layup, all those holes are really handy to bond the skirt with clekos. Just fill after it sets up. No holes!
I documented the entire process on my blog.

I had exactly the same problem. I would not cut the forward frame, it's important that it matches the roll bar. Better is to try to shape the side skirt. It does not matter if one is wider than the other. Maybe you just make a new one from sheet metal...

Side skirt

Hi,
I had same problem on the right side. Left side was fine. I just ordered a new side skirt and I?m gonna wait for final assembly to refit.
Dave