cdeerinck
Well Known Member
As I was working on my canopy, I kept getting more debris getting under the edges of the protective plastic, so I bought a product to protect it until she is ready to fly, and finally peeled the factory plastic off.
At first I was scared at what appeared to be micro scratches, but they all came out with a cleaning of Plexus. Once it got shiny I could see a beautiful reflection, but then unfortunately I noticed that the canopy has a manufacturing flaw in it.
It is about 12-18 inches behind the pilot's head (thank god it wasn't in front) dead center at the top. I would guess maybe 1/8" distortion. The mold must have had an air bubble. I did my best with the photography, but as many of you know, it is almost impossible to get a good picture of that.
I would be willing to bet that your average joe would never notice it, unless it was pointed out to them, or they saw it from the right bad angle. Once I told my wife what I found, she said "Oh yeah, I can see right where it is". Obviously now that I know it is there, my eye hunts it out every time I look.
From the passenger seat, it will distort the reflection of the back of my head, and the the view of sky or clouds above us. It is probably exactly where someone would look if we were inverted, but I don't plan on a lot of that, if any.
Replacing it doesn't make sense, as it would require a new steel frame, powder coating of the frame, new skirts, new carbon fiber skirt interiors, a new canopy, five pounds of Sikaflex (I jest) and a ton of hours. Even if Vans offered up a free replacement, which I doubt, it would just not make sense.
My question: Is their anything I can do about it short of replacing it?
I was leaning in the direction of having a Koger sunshade before I discovered this. Hopefully that would hide it a bit, and not make it more noticeable. It is greatest exactly where it's spine attaches to the canopy.
View from the outside
View from the inside
View of the deflection (with the convex surface, the paper should only be touching in the center, so the deflection is about double the distance you see here).
At first I was scared at what appeared to be micro scratches, but they all came out with a cleaning of Plexus. Once it got shiny I could see a beautiful reflection, but then unfortunately I noticed that the canopy has a manufacturing flaw in it.
It is about 12-18 inches behind the pilot's head (thank god it wasn't in front) dead center at the top. I would guess maybe 1/8" distortion. The mold must have had an air bubble. I did my best with the photography, but as many of you know, it is almost impossible to get a good picture of that.
I would be willing to bet that your average joe would never notice it, unless it was pointed out to them, or they saw it from the right bad angle. Once I told my wife what I found, she said "Oh yeah, I can see right where it is". Obviously now that I know it is there, my eye hunts it out every time I look.
From the passenger seat, it will distort the reflection of the back of my head, and the the view of sky or clouds above us. It is probably exactly where someone would look if we were inverted, but I don't plan on a lot of that, if any.
Replacing it doesn't make sense, as it would require a new steel frame, powder coating of the frame, new skirts, new carbon fiber skirt interiors, a new canopy, five pounds of Sikaflex (I jest) and a ton of hours. Even if Vans offered up a free replacement, which I doubt, it would just not make sense.
My question: Is their anything I can do about it short of replacing it?
I was leaning in the direction of having a Koger sunshade before I discovered this. Hopefully that would hide it a bit, and not make it more noticeable. It is greatest exactly where it's spine attaches to the canopy.
View from the outside
View from the inside
View of the deflection (with the convex surface, the paper should only be touching in the center, so the deflection is about double the distance you see here).
