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Lifting canopy after fiberglassing

K

keny

Member
Hello, fellow builders, The fiberglass fairing at the canopy/cowling juncture has cured but I haven't tried to raise the canopy. I've followed the directions as to duct and mylar tapes. Are there any tricks to this? Thanks, Ken
 
Ken, mine broke away with no issues, but I also used car wax on top of the tape as a release agent.

Rich
 
Lifting Canopy after Fiberglassing

Thanks, Marty and Rich. I did use wax on the Mylar and pushing on the cowling released the glass. For those of you who haven't yet made the canopy/cowling fairing, a few things I learned today: I have a Hutchins, #5502, hand sanding block -16" long- that uses 3M, #32220, 80 grit, sandpaper sheets which makes the sanding go faster than a smaller block. 2. You are likely to have, at the outer edges of the cured fiberglass plys, threads that are as sharp as needles, just waiting to pierce your fingers(I know). Sand these "needles" down first thing. 3. I discovered that my canopy frame(where the canopy foam attaches) is, laterally, unequal and so the vertical portion of the layups don't meet the fuselage equally - the layups on the left side have about a 1/4" space between them and the fuselage and the right side meets the fuselage correctly. I don't know yet why this is. Ken
 
 
Lifting Canopy after Fiberglassing

Take your air hose and blown high pressure air wherethe glass meets the metal. Worked on my 7 and on the 12.
Gerry
 
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