Brantel
Well Known Member
I will post here my progress to finishing the glass work on my tipup canopy. Tons of different ways to do things, this will be mine.
Broke out the fiberglassing supplies.
Prepared the tape.
Sorry no pics of the layup but one on top of the other, seven layers, wet out on a board then applied using the "taping it with a sponge" technique.
Covered it all with strips of peel-ply. I mixed black die in the resin for this layup.
Drilled and countersunk for protective rivets to prevent the fairing from popping loose from the skin. Watch where you drill these around on the sides to prevent drilling into the reinforcement brace.
Put one final layer on top of all that after filling the rivet holes with flox/resin. One wide strip all the way across, finished off with peel-ply.
Got started with prep for the targa that I am doing. Tape off and sand the poo out of the plexi and aluminum. Packing tape on top of the blue tape prevents the glass from sticking to where it does not belong...
Four full width layers later...
When I did this, I took out every other screw around the canopy frame.
Then I backdrilled these and countersunk them and put the screws back in. This is in an effort to prevent the targa from ever separating from the plexi.
I also put three pop rivets on both sides to the side skirts to help in this area as well. This really holds the targa down tight because of these being at the ends of the curve tied tight to the rigid skirts.
I took a thin card and broke the bond on the targa and the packing tape and after some effort, I was able to get it open. The frustration was not the plexi bonding to something it should not have, it was the fact that I had my latch fingers too tight and they would not unlatch. Prior to the targa, I was pressing down slightly on the bubble to get them to unlatch. Well after the tarta was on, there was no "pressing down" gonna happen.
I eventually got it open and will file some off the latch hooks before I latch it solid again.
I am still thinking about glassing on side skirt extensions to cover the gap on the sides of the canopy from the front skin all the way back to the lifting handle. This seems like a doable thing. Does anyone have any experience with the long term effects of doing so?
Broke out the fiberglassing supplies.
Prepared the tape.
Sorry no pics of the layup but one on top of the other, seven layers, wet out on a board then applied using the "taping it with a sponge" technique.
Covered it all with strips of peel-ply. I mixed black die in the resin for this layup.
Drilled and countersunk for protective rivets to prevent the fairing from popping loose from the skin. Watch where you drill these around on the sides to prevent drilling into the reinforcement brace.
Put one final layer on top of all that after filling the rivet holes with flox/resin. One wide strip all the way across, finished off with peel-ply.
Got started with prep for the targa that I am doing. Tape off and sand the poo out of the plexi and aluminum. Packing tape on top of the blue tape prevents the glass from sticking to where it does not belong...
Four full width layers later...
When I did this, I took out every other screw around the canopy frame.
Then I backdrilled these and countersunk them and put the screws back in. This is in an effort to prevent the targa from ever separating from the plexi.
I also put three pop rivets on both sides to the side skirts to help in this area as well. This really holds the targa down tight because of these being at the ends of the curve tied tight to the rigid skirts.
I took a thin card and broke the bond on the targa and the packing tape and after some effort, I was able to get it open. The frustration was not the plexi bonding to something it should not have, it was the fact that I had my latch fingers too tight and they would not unlatch. Prior to the targa, I was pressing down slightly on the bubble to get them to unlatch. Well after the tarta was on, there was no "pressing down" gonna happen.
I eventually got it open and will file some off the latch hooks before I latch it solid again.
I am still thinking about glassing on side skirt extensions to cover the gap on the sides of the canopy from the front skin all the way back to the lifting handle. This seems like a doable thing. Does anyone have any experience with the long term effects of doing so?
