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Slider assist

wirejock

Well Known Member
I think my slider fits too good. It takes quite a bit of pulling and cussing to get it started sliding away from fully closed. There's very little leverage yanking on the top handle. I have to lift on the edge of the skirt. That's not a good long term solution. Ive seen one or two with a little clip near the aft end to lift. I need something to lift and pull aft. A car door handle shape is ideal.
I am thinking about adding a piece of angle aluminum as a lifting tab in the area circled in red. I can back drill through the C791 Canopy Skirt Brace and rivet the handle to it, using three or four holes, so it has some structure. One each side, powder coated to match.
I don't want to drill the top bow. There's no holes in my canopy. Well there's one for the latch.
Does anyone have better ideas?
20210515_164237.jpg
 
What you are describing is very common. Handles on side canopy skirts particularly. .

Slider will slide easier over time.

Until it does, and if on the inside, just push up on the fore-afte canopy bow while pulling back from handle.

Again, everything will loosen over time.
 
Lifting tabs

Larry,

My RV-6A has a lifting tab on each side. They appear to be flat stock bent to 90 degrees rather than manufactured angle. They protrude about 3/4 inch and are long enough to put four fingers on them from underneath. When I lift up by the tab, only that side comes up, but then I'm able to get some fingers under the trailing edge of the canopy further up and get that rear slider moving up the track. Best position for the tabs would probably be back abeam that rear slider block. It opens fine from the inside after being locked. I usually just shut it snug from the outside rather than pulling it all the way closed with the lock when parking it.
 
On my 9A

The plans for my 9A had an angle with a "finger" hole in it for lifting to open the slider. I also found a hook tool that I used for about the first six months to "grab onto the finger hole" and lift up and back.
After about six months the canopy loosened up a bit and is now easier to open by hand on the angle unit.
My plans had the angle riveted to the slider frame in the are you have circled in red.
IF I were to do it again, I would use about 1-½ inch angle for the finger hole and trim the canopy side down to about ½ to ¾ inches. A bigger finger hole than ½ inch would allow for a larger finger to get a good purchase on the frame for opening.
Here in Oregon I've seen one RV with a hole (not measured) that looked to be about 1.5 inches round - really nice grasp there...

Oh, I just remembered: I've seen a 7 with a drawer pull handle in the middle of the canopy fairing that made it really convenient to pull up and get it moving.
 
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Drawer Handle

Been working great for 7 years / 700 hours. Doesn't twist the canopy when you pull on it. Liberty "Tapered Bow Pull - Brushed Satin Nickel" 64mm, Part# P0270B-SN-C.

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Make em like u want em. Sides are just angle. Top, middle is 2 angles riveted together, with large finger hole. Smoothed for aerodynamics. EZ for any builder.
 
A models vs Non-A models

I thought about trying the handle style Dan & Keith are showing, and I saw on a 7. What I found on my 9A was at 5 foot 10 inches, I was not tall enough to reach to the middle of the canopy to effectively leverage such a handle. So I went with the angled tab on the sides.
You could try taping a handle where you think you want it and see how it works as far as reaching it and guesstimating whether you will have enough leverage to pull the canopy up and rearward.
If you enjoy fiberglass (or aren't afraid of doing some repair work) you could mount one "permanently" and giving it a few weeks / months trial and then decide whether you want to keep it or get rid of it...
 
Drawer pull

The plans for my 9A had an angle with a "finger" hole in it for lifting to open the slider. I also found a hook tool that I used for about the first six months to "grab onto the finger hole" and lift up and back.
After about six months the canopy loosened up a bit and is now easier to open by hand on the angle unit.
My plans had the angle riveted to the slider frame in the are you have circled in red.
IF I were to do it again, I would use about 1-½ inch angle for the finger hole and trim the canopy side down to about ½ to ¾ inches. A bigger finger hole than ½ inch would allow for a larger finger to get a good purchase on the frame for opening.
Here in Oregon I've seen one RV with a hole (not measured) that looked to be about 1.5 inches round - really nice grasp there...

Oh, I just remembered: I've seen a 7 with a drawer pull handle in the middle of the canopy fairing that made it really convenient to pull up and get it moving.

A pull on top wouldn't do me any good. I'm pretty strong, but only 5'6". No leverage.
I've seen a few drawer "finger" pull handles I like. Time for some Experimental Ingenuity:D!
Now that I know it's not unusual, I will do some thinkin'.
 
I have a piece of angle riveted to the skirt on the pilot's side. It is more for pulling the slider aft than lifting it.

One thing I found with my slider was the wheels were hard against either the inner or outer (don't remember) edge of the track and didn't roll very well. Somehow I managed to tweak that (I tweaked the wheels, or added a washer as a spacer, or something - don't remember), and it made an immediate improvement.
 
Cup pulls

I found what I need. Drawer Cup Pulls. Kinda aerodynamic too.
Gazzilions of them on Amazon.
I just need to measure hole distance and hope there is a match.
 
What you are describing is very common. Handles on side canopy skirts particularly. .

Slider will slide easier over time.

Until it does, and if on the inside, just push up on the fore-afte canopy bow while pulling back from handle.

Again, everything will loosen over time.

Bingo bango, spot on what I have found so far. I used some angle and made a nice little angle that got riveted on each side.
 
My slider was hard to open and I considered the side or top handles. I was surprised to find that a liberal amount of Boelube paste in the holes where the "prongs" fit fixed the problem completely. Easy to try.
Stewart Willoughby, 6
 
Boelube

My slider was hard to open and I considered the side or top handles. I was surprised to find that a liberal amount of Boelube paste in the holes where the "prongs" fit fixed the problem completely. Easy to try.
Stewart Willoughby, 6

Going to the shop as we speak! Thanks for the top tip!
 
Larry,
All posts are good advice. One thing to think about that has not been mentioned is the adjustment on the threaded rod at the top of the baggage bulkhead on the forward bend of the slider track. Have you done any adjustments on that? If it is not adjusted correctly it can be very difficult to open the slider. If you have already done this disregard my advice, but this can help how the slider moves up that initial bend of the track during the initial movement.
 
Slider adjustment

The Boelube helped but very little.
I have not adjusted the top, but will try that as well.
 
Make something!

While not a slider, my canopy ended up *very snug* (partly due to the deviation from plans), so I added handles that were a little larger than plans and on each side at the rear and to the center...
 

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Larry,

I had the same problem as you. I ended up making some small pieces out of some spare angle and riveting them to each side of the canopy frame (see photo). I got the idea from a friend's RV. I've included a closeup picture of his. They worked great. It allowed me to put upward pressure to the back half of the canopy as I was sliding it aft. I also installed some UHMW tape on the bottom of the canopy skirt where it came in contact with the fuselage.


Canopy Reinstall 2.jpg IMG_1890.jpg
 
The most common I've seen are made from 1/16" aluminum angle that is trimmed to be more aerodynamic.
 
The plans for my 9A had an angle with a "finger" hole in it for lifting to open the slider. I also found a hook tool that I used for about the first six months to "grab onto the finger hole" and lift up and back.
After about six months the canopy loosened up a bit and is now easier to open by hand on the angle unit.
My plans had the angle riveted to the slider frame in the are you have circled in red.
IF I were to do it again, I would use about 1-½ inch angle for the finger hole and trim the canopy side down to about ½ to ¾ inches. A bigger finger hole than ½ inch would allow for a larger finger to get a good purchase on the frame for opening.
Here in Oregon I've seen one RV with a hole (not measured) that looked to be about 1.5 inches round - really nice grasp there...

Oh, I just remembered: I've seen a 7 with a drawer pull handle in the middle of the canopy fairing that made it really convenient to pull up and get it moving.

662BH, where are you seeing that on the RV9A plans I can't find it on my plans so any pointers most welcome,

Many thanks in advance,
Nige
 
Nice

I'll be working on the plane this weekend and will make a note to research. I'll post my findings in a couple of days.

The title of this post was supposed to be NIGE, not Nice; bloody spell-checker...
 
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My Error

Nige:
I had to go to the hangar today - Fire Marshall Inspection - while there, I pulled out the drawings and ----- Apparently my gray hair is giving me erroneous memories.
I couldn't find anything on the drawings regarding a tab for helping open the canopy. So, apparently, six years ago, or so, I had talked to other builders and saw what they had done and created a tab for both sides, and riveted them on during the build process of the fairings. It seemed so natural I locked it in my old brain that it was part of the drawings.
Sorry to everyone for any confusion.
 
Nige:
I had to go to the hangar today - Fire Marshall Inspection - while there, I pulled out the drawings and ----- Apparently my gray hair is giving me erroneous memories.
I couldn't find anything on the drawings regarding a tab for helping open the canopy. So, apparently, six years ago, or so, I had talked to other builders and saw what they had done and created a tab for both sides, and riveted them on during the build process of the fairings. It seemed so natural I locked it in my old brain that it was part of the drawings.
Sorry to everyone for any confusion.

Hi 622BH, many thanks for looking at least I’m not going blind as I couldn’t find it on plans and thought I was missing something 😉. Should be relatively easy to fabricate a suitable tab to assist getting the slider moving. Thanks again for checking 👍👍

Kind regards

Nige
 
Draggy

Draggy… ;)

:eek:
So many fly with tie downs. Mine won't be installed. Hypersonic flush covers for speed. That 3/16" hole costs knots. Flyboy vents and fuel drains are worth a knot or two. Trade a knot here or there. Slider handle on top is draggy. Oh yea, so is the pitot and those blasted exhaust pipes. Guess I better find a way to remove that. I figure I'm on the plus side by about 1 knot. People can drive themselves insane chasin' knots.:D

Already figured it out. Knurled knob will be a fuel cap keychain fob. Screw will be installed so it doesn't come off. Walk up, screw on the key fob, open the canopy. Remove the fob with the keys. Almost zero added drag. I suppose the little piece of screw sticking out will cost a knot or two but not much more than a chunck of aerodynamic 1/16" angle. I can put a round aerodynamic rubber plug thingy on it.
Sorry. My sense of humor is not for everyone.
 
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