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canopy frame height

prkaye

Well Known Member
I've been playing around with my canopy frame tonight. I just have the rails and back slider resting in place, to see how the fit is. My roll-bar is already bolted in place.

It appears to me that the front of the canopy frame is sitting way too high. As you can see in the photo (below) the top of the canopy frame at the front is about an inch higher than the top of the roll bar.

DWG 43, Detail B indicates "3/8 inch at roll bar/canopy frame top & center".

But page 9-10 of the plans seems to say it has to be even closer "the front top of the frame is about 1/8-3/16" higher than the roll bar" (third last para on page).

The height at the rear looks OK (relative to the top skin back there). The gap along the vertical part of the canopy frame and roll bar widens towards the top.

I'm not sure what to do about the height issue. Have others experienced this?

Photo:
 
You have to trim the bottom of the canopy frame tubes (the front bow) to get the height right. You don't want to do this until all of the other bending and tweaking has been done. Also, I can't tell from your pictures, but you will want to check the height with the frame actually sitting in the wheel brackets to get the actual height.
 
You can bank on 1/8" trim on the front roller tubes. You have a lot of drill room in the roller shaft, so don't worry about that too much. The fit in the rear is very close. When you get to the side skirts... Van's are not tall enough to do the fit, and you will end up triming the new skirts down. I've got a great cheat on this one.
 
Last edited:
Ok thanks guys, I was wondering about cutting some off the "legs" on the front bow (where the rollers get attached) to solve this, but am nervous abotu cutting that big expensive thing.

You can bank on 1/8" trim on the front roller tubes.
Assuming the top of the canopy frame should be 3/8" higher than the roll bar, I will have to chop about 5/8" off those (currently sittnig about an inch higher). Again, chopping this much off my canopy frame makes me nervous!

I mentioned in my first post an apparent inconsistency in the plans/drawings. One place says the top of the canopy frame should be 3/8" inches higher than the top of the roll bar, and another place seems to say it should be between 1/16" and 1/8". Which is correct? Or have I misinterpreted one of these?
 
Ok thanks guys, I was wondering about cutting some off the "legs" on the front bow (where the rollers get attached) to solve this, but am nervous abotu cutting that big expensive thing.


Assuming the top of the canopy frame should be 3/8" higher than the roll bar, I will have to chop about 5/8" off those (currently sittnig about an inch higher). Again, chopping this much off my canopy frame makes me nervous!

I mentioned in my first post an apparent inconsistency in the plans/drawings. One place says the top of the canopy frame should be 3/8" inches higher than the top of the roll bar, and another place seems to say it should be between 1/16" and 1/8". Which is correct? Or have I misinterpreted one of these?

For some reason changes happen quick with this canopy thing. My first cut was 3/8", then 1/8" on the right side only to level me up. My suggestion was 1/8" goes a long way so take it slow. :)
 
Roll bar canopy height difference

I understand the need to "sneak up" on cutting the tubes for the rollers to achieve the correct height. But I am also still confused about the discrepancies in the plans drawings/instructions. What difference in height should we end up with - 3/8" per DWG 43, or pg 9-10, and also supplementary instructions, stating 1/8-3/16" difference in height?

Guess I'm still concerned with the same question prkaye started the thread with.
 
final trimming

maybe i can answer the question now... I think 3/8 is a good starting point, but that the final height is determined once you get the plexi on there and are tweaking things to get thigns perfect when you close it. It looks to me like this is one of those `whatever makes it work' things, and the 1/16 or 3/8 are just ballpark figures. Standard deviation for this measurement is probably pretty big between different builders' fuselages.
 
Slider height must match windscreen

You want to set the height of the slider frame so that the slider canopy will match the windscreen at the rollbar. Save the height adjustment until after the canpoy is drilled and clecoed to the slider frame. At that point you can hold the windscreen in place on the rollbar and adjust the slider to match it.
 
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