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Slider canopy handle

ABQAV8R

I'm New Here
The sliding canopy on my RV6A is very hard to open from the outside. It?s the first 2? getting the rear lifted up on the rails that offers the most resistance. It?s almost too much for the small latching handle for me to grasp and overcome initial resistance.
I was wondering if anyone has installed a small drawer handle near the rear on the outside to assist in opening the canopy. I was thinking that even a small aerodynamic piece of Plexiglas could be glued near the rear.
Looking for thoughts on this. one like this?http://www.harneyhardware.com/assets/products/detail/36240.jpg
 
A lot of folks just install a small angle tab on the aft end of the canopy on the side. You just have to lift this a bit to get the canopy started open. Sorry I don't have a pic handy.
 
I used a piece of 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8" angle for that purpose. It is riveted and prosealed where the side and aft skirts overlap. The front of the angle has a slight scallop so it fits my finger, and aft of that it tapers to nothing over about 3-4".

Works very well.

But the point is, you can use whatever you want. A handle, a tab, anything that looks good to you and gives you something to tug on. It needs to be securely mounted so it doesn't cause fatigue cracking at the attach points.
 
I used a stainless U-bolt on mine. Underneath, I fabricated an aluminum plate that extends forward under the plexiglas for more support.

 
I installed two very simple lift points made out of angle. One is a small lifting tab near the back lower corner of the pilots side of the skirt and the other is a tab with a finger hole for lifting mounted to the top rear of the canopy, bolted through the top tube. Makes my canopy very easy to open. I will take some photos later today and post them.
 
I used a stainless drawer handle from Aviation Depot. People don't know it's not a custom aircraft part unless I point it out.

20070717_handle1.jpg
20070909_canopy3.jpg


Some simple plastic spacers prevent the handle from bearing directly on the plexiglass, to prevent cracking:

20070901_exterior_handle.jpg
20070909_handle2.jpg


mcb
 
Handle

This is what I used. I wrote down the handle part number somewhere, but I can't find it at the moment. I believe the brand was Liberty. It is nickel plated.

Edit: Looked at the Liberty web site here. The handle is a "Tapered Bow Pull - Brushed Satin Nickel" Not sure which size it is (they have several) , I'd have to go measure it. (Another Edit: 64mm, Part# P0270B-SN-C)

The plate it is mounted to is some .071" aluminum. It is countersunk on the bottom side for the mounting screws that screw into the handle. Then the top side of the plate is countersunk for the #6 stainless screws that hold the whole assembly to the canopy. The canopy spine was drilled and threaded for the #6 screws.

The plane has 141 hours on it now - and I can tell you that having the handle there really makes opening and closing the canopy easy. I also use it when I remove the canopy from the plane.


canopy_handle_side.jpg


canopy_handle_rear.jpg
 
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