VAF Forums - Tip: Simplified method of attaching skirts to slider canopy

Amongst the more difficult aspects of building a 9A slider is the canopy. We wrestled with the C-660 skirts over and over again trying for an easy way to get them to line up. We tried inducing a curve and spoke to Ken Scott at Vans several times. He was very helpful but we still could not get it right.

After several "abortions" I think we have come up a simple way to get them to fit. In fact, the first one took an hour but the second took only 10 minutes. Essentially, if you think of the C-660 as a template to be rotated vertically before final attachment, you can achieve the complex bend. The C-660 will adhere to the side of the airplane w/o bending it, stretching it, or going nuts.

After many days of wasted effort and aluminum, we did it as follows:

1)Using the first 10 holes (front to rear), affix the C-660 to the horizontal canopy rail on the slider. The base of the C-660 should be above the rivets per the plan. In our case, the C-759 inner canopy skirt had already been drilled and aligned to cradle the lower edge of the canopy plexiglass.

2)With the first 10 holes secured with clecos, lift the aft end of the C-660 approx 1/8' to 1/4" and clamp it to the C-759 which was already clamped to the canopy frame. The "lift" will cause the C-660 to curl and align itself vertically to the edge of the fuse.

3)With the C-660 firmly clamped to the C-759, remove all pieces and drill the C-660 using the previously drilled holes in the C-759. 4) Using a shear, trim the upper edge of the C-660 at the aft end where it rises above the C-759.

Voila, you're done.

My special thanks to Ken Scott, Gil Alexander, Chet Oldakowski and Mike Shipper for their helpful suggestions. Pictures can be found at

http://www.arizonaairparks.com/rv-canopy

Feel free to email any questions to barry "at" arizonaairparks.com