Top canopy for RV-10

Well, I have made the cuts at the scribe lines and there are a few places that are cut mor than 3/4" wide the plans say. We have tried to put the top on and looks like there is a ton of sanding just to get the top to fit in on the door part of the fuselage. I guess I'm asking is this normal and haven't cut to much? Is there a ton of sanding and fit attempts till the top fits snug?

Any help would be appreciated.

Kenny

Cabin Top

Sanding, yes.
More Sanding, yes.
More Sanding, yes.
More Sanding, yes.

That said, if you have the QB fuselage, check to make sure that there are NO AN470 rivet heads protruding in the area where the cabin top fits into the fuselage. I had 8 AN470 rivets installed where there were supposed to be AN426 flush rivets...easy enough to fix (but annoying, considering the cost of the QB) but it will give you a little extra room.

The cabin top was the WORST part of the kit, IMO...however, I have yet to start the doors...

You will find that the "scribe lines" probably aren't even close. You will probably end up removing ALL of the door channel flange to get it to fit. If only the cabin top door opening had been designed 1/4" narrower...

Oh well...

Buy yourself a set of PermaGrit tools and a belt sander, it makes the task easier with far less cussing...

Belt sander with 40 or 60 grit and go to work!

Spend the $$$ for a good breathing mask/filter.

Decent goggles are also a good investment.

Good luck----------take your time and you will get there.

thanks everyone for the help. we spent a few hours after i sent the message and made some descent progress, and i now understand it is going to take a lot of sanding. i always question myself if i am doing things correctly or not so wanted to learn something. thanks

rv-10 top

Don't worry about the sander. Grab the 4" disc grinder and lay it to it. All that is going to be floxed in finally and you won't see it. The flox will adhere to the rougher surface better anyway.

I was able to fit my canopy myself with no help. I carried the canopy out of the shop to cut and sand, then bring it back in for fitting/marking. Saved a huge mess in the shop.

After a few tries you'll find you can get in it like a portage canoe and set it on the airplane diagonally solo. Then you can get in the fuselage and stand up with it to lower it. When I'm trimming I'l take it on/off ten times a day solo.

The good news is once you get the top, windows and doors complete you have the worst of this project behind you.

The rest is fun.

Pat Stewart said:

The good news is once you get the top, windows and doors complete you have the worst of this project behind you.

The rest is fun.

Click to expand...

.... and the cowling, and the gear fairings...

They all weren't so bad! I can say that now that I'm done with all of them!

im not what you call a mechnical kind of guy, but i can say im way better than a year ago. if i could get the top on by myself, that would be a huge win because wouldn't have to depend so much on my build partner when he isn't there. i have been learning a ton looking at other people's build logs, so thanks for those. i will be happy when the fiberglass work is done, but im starting to like it a little more now.