canopy frame fit problem

Can anyone please help?! I fit the canopy frame with the skin on the fuselage, used tape to pull the frame skin tight to the forward f771 skin and down to the canopy deck then drilled the hinge brackets. Removed the frame and installed the bushings and reinstalled the frame. there was a small even gap between the two skins so everything looked good but when I lift the canopy up,the forward canopy skin jams underneath the aft edge of the upper fuse skin and wont let the frame rotate to open. what am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

aeronut67 said:

Can anyone please help?! I fit the canopy frame with the skin on the fuselage, used tape to pull the frame skin tight to the forward f771 skin and down to the canopy deck then drilled the hinge brackets. Removed the frame and installed the bushings and reinstalled the frame. there was a small even gap between the two skins so everything looked good but when I lift the canopy up,the forward canopy skin jams underneath the aft edge of the upper fuse skin and wont let the frame rotate to open. what am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

I found the same with my RV6 tip-up. I'm hoping it gets better when everything is riveted tight. Otherwise I'll need to open the gap between the canopy and fwd skins. Because the hinge point is below the skin there does need to be a gap - the question is how big once every thing is nailed?

Jim Sharkey

thanks jim.
so you are just going to forge ahead? I would like to resolve this before I start to fit the canopy. Well god luck with yours.

The interference on mine isn't bad but I want to rivet the forward skin before making the final trim on the canopy skin. If I do it now with a loose forward skin I know that the final gap will be bigger than it needs to be.

Jim

I found out what the problem was. The front of the hinge was contacting the back edge of the thick spacer. I cut them back a bit and it closed the gap on the skins. problem is I already drilled the pivot points and now they are off. I was thinking of filling them with jb weld and re drilling.

Canopy fit

HI All,

Had a similar problem with a RV9 I built.The canopy skin would try to dive under the boot cowl skin. After a bit of mental gymnastics I figured it needed a shim under the tip up skin. Ran the idea past Vans and they concurred that many times this is necessary to do. Made up a .050 Shim only at the straight portion of the skin. If you look carefuly you will see the area that does not pull away from the boot skin. This is the area the shim is needed. Go slowly to start cause you will wrinkle the tip up skin near the hinge points. Hope this leads you in the right direction.

John H

use a shim

I have been working on my canopy and found the same issue.
I used a thin shim under the canopy skin at the straight section between each hinge. Works great now.

Yes - use a shim

I found I also needed a shim on my 9A tip up. I found my frame had a low spot in the center. Put a 6" .020 and a 3" .020 and issue went away.
Alan Jackson