Canopy Skirt...

Greetings!

I've cut and drilled the canopy and frame and I'm ready for the skirts. Side skirts are fine. Problem is with the back skirts that go from the top of the rear canopy to the fuselage.

I can not get them flat. They curve fine around the canopy, but then stick out at the fuselage. If I curve them in, they bulge at the mid canopy.

Any advice? Pictures?

CC

I'm a few steps away from the rear skirts, so I'm curious as to what you find out. I'm going to give the aluminum a go, but I'm prepared to make fiberglass skirts if necessary, laying them up in place and attaching to the canopy with a combination of adhesive and rivets. I've already countersunk the plexi to accept the dimpled rear skirts, hence the adhesive bonding of the fiberglass. Or, bond in place like the windscreen fairing?

Have you tackled it again and tried to re-shape? Hopefully someone with experience will chime in with advice/pictures.

I skipped the frustration and fiberglassed it. It's now one part of the plane I look at and am always happy with. Took a week or so, but it fits perfectly. I bonded it in place sika flex.

Chris

YellowJacket RV9 said:

I skipped the frustration and fiberglassed it. It's now one part of the plane I look at and am always happy with. Took a week or so, but it fits perfectly. I bonded it in place sika flex.

Chris

Click to expand...

Same here. Easy to do in comparison to the windscreen fiberglass, and fits perfectly.

That ends up being a complex reverse curve and it requires some shaping skills, and more importantly the skills required to read the curve. A paper model helps because it shows where the shrinking or stretching is required. It is a learning curve and possibly too much of a curve for guys who just want to get their airplane built. Glass is very straight forward and it works.

But I am doing it in metal, including the front, just because I have some experience and I find it interesting. Reverse curves are the hardest type to make. Lots of experienced metal guys struggle with them.

mine didn't need any shrinking

But I did spend a lot of time tapering the aft edge of the plexi with a coarse file. This solved the problem with the aluminum laying flat on both the plexi and the rear deck.