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Sealing canopy

jneves

Well Known Member
New to the forum, just finished a 2250 mile trip from Florida to California bringing home my, new to me, RV-6A. She’s fully IFR capable and handled the weather through Georgia and Mississippi great! Except for a leaking tip up canopy.

My question is what’s the right or best way to seal up the front lip that meets the fuselage as well as the back where is meets the hoop above our heads. Currently it has the thin white door weatherstripping you find at Home Depot to seal front doors in the jamb not working out well.
 
New to the forum, just finished a 2250 mile trip from Florida to California bringing home my, new to me, RV-6A. She’s fully IFR capable and handled the weather through Georgia and Mississippi great! Except for a leaking tip up canopy.

My question is what’s the right or best way to seal up the front lip that meets the fuselage as well as the back where is meets the hoop above our heads. Currently it has the thin white door weatherstripping you find at Home Depot to seal front doors in the jamb not working out well.

I have a 7 which is a little different geometry, but the perimeter gap without the seal must be even and relative tight. There is a teflon teardrop seal that Vans typically recommends and it works well but functional only in a small gap dimension range. Also there are some gaps to be filled around the front on the rib-to-skin.

The seal for your specific plane will depend on the gap from building. This is the standard Vans selection. It seems soft but I pressure tested and it wont leak from dynamic pressures.
HSS2000xS88_CUT.jpg
 
I have a 7 which is a little different geometry, but the perimeter gap without the seal must be even and relative tight. There is a teflon teardrop seal that Vans typically recommends and it works well but functional only in a small gap dimension range. Also there are some gaps to be filled around the front on the rib-to-skin.

The seal for your specific plane will depend on the gap from building. This is the standard Vans selection. It seems soft but I pressure tested and it wont leak from dynamic pressures.
View attachment 15927

Thank you Bill. Good place to start the process. I’ll see what I can do to measure the gap and address it properly.
 
I struggled for quite a while to canopy draft seal my (slider) '6. Tried lots of different brush strips, rubber P seals etc etc and really only got slight improvements..

By far and away the most effective method I found of eliminating drafts was to seal the potential air exits rather than the entries. Obviously, not much use if it's water ingress you're concerned about, but if it is indeed cockpit drafts you're trying to eliminate I'd urge you to start by fitting gaiters on the aileron push tubes as they enter the 'fuz and have a good look at the seal of the rear stab & fin onto the 'fuz.

Look at it from the point of view of trying to eliminate any low pressure inside the 'fuz - the "incoming" leaks will mostly just go away.

Changing tack, If you look closely at 44 secs and 59 seconds in this video you can see the brush seals I've fitted to the canopy slider rails and also the 10mm dia neoprene rod seal I've used to seal the canopy shut line. I realize you have a 'tipper, but maybe some ideas here ?.

https://vimeo.com/611795662
 
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I struggled for quite a while to canopy draft seal my (slider) '6. Tried lots of different brush strips, rubber P seals etc etc and really only got slight improvements..

By far and away the most effective method I found of eliminating drafts was to seal the potential air exits rather than the entries. Obviously, not much use if it's water ingress you're concerned about, but if it is indeed cockpit drafts you're trying to eliminate I'd urge you to start by fitting gaiters on the aileron push tubes as they enter the 'fuz and have a good look at the seal of the rear stab & fin onto the 'fuz.

Look at it from the point of view of trying to eliminate any low pressure inside the 'fuz - the "incoming" leaks will mostly just go away.

Changing tack, If you look closely at 44 secs and 59 seconds in this video you can see the brush seals I've fitted to the canopy slider rails and also the 10mm dia neoprene rod seal I've used to seal the canopy shut line. I realize you have a 'tipper, but maybe some ideas here ?.

https://vimeo.com/611795662


Thanks for the tips, I've come to a similar conclusion, removing lower pressure will help with drafts, but the ingress of water is my main concern. I'll try some seals that others have suggested as well as the edging of tap when flying in rain/weather.
 
If all else fails (which it has on my Pitts) I just carry a roll of kitchen cling film to cover up with if I'm forced to let the aircraft stand out in the rain.

... No use when airborne though :rolleyes:
 
One Way

Thanks for the tips, I've come to a similar conclusion, removing lower pressure will help with drafts, but the ingress of water is my main concern. I'll try some seals that others have suggested as well as the edging of tap when flying in rain/weather.

Hi,
In the past read about someone who used tape to fix. Think it was Steve Melton.

Anyway, here is a link to a thread on how I taped my tip up 6.
https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=195326&highlight=canopy

Hope this helps.

This will be the first winter with this fix in place, I'll soon know if it works in the cold. It works great in the summer to stop rain from getting inside.

Mike
 
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