Bondo for RV-14 Canopy Hinge Slots?

Hi All,

I'm finishing up the canopy. So far, so good. I'm wondering about Step 2 on Page 38-36 that directs you to use auto body filler to fill the voids between the sub panel and canopy hinge brackets. Apparently just trowel a small amount into the gaps and work it as smooth as possible for it dries. All while keeping the adjacent notch clear of filler.

My question is why do any of this? The gaps you're filling are small and to me not objectionable. They are invisible with the canopy closed. Adding bondo or microballoons to that area seems like you're causing more problems than you're solving. Cosmetically it won't look great because it's a difficult area to sand. You risk interfering with the canopy hinges. I'm just thinking of skipping this step. But maybe there's a good reason to do this. Maybe reducing drafts or water intrusion?

Thanks for any feedback on whether you performed this step and whether or not it's important to do so.

Cheers,

Scott Davis

It is a required step for making the canopy seal (the seal on the hinge slot cover plate actually), seal as best it possibly can in the area around the hinge arms.

That seal is important. One RV-14A builder decided to leave it off until after paint. Above 150 knots the whole plane started to vibrate. Installing the seal fixed the problem.

Carl

Thanks for the feedback guys. Will proceed as depicted in plans.

Cheers,
Scott

Whistled….

Carl Froehlich said:

That seal is important. One RV-14A builder decided to leave it off until after paint. Above 150 knots the whole plane started to vibrate. Installing the seal fixed the problem.

Carl

Click to expand...

Left mine off till after paint (that was the plan at least) and over 153 knots like clockwork decided to make a very loud whistling noise. Came right through the Bose A20’s. Sounded awful and a little scary. Added back after that.

Don’t have a -14, but would pro seal work? It’s paintable, isn’t it?

I think that there may be two separate items in this conversation. The first is the bondo fill next to the hinges and the other is the front seal. I used bondo or some similar type of material and it was a light blue. I wasn't sure if it would show after everything got put together so I wanted to color it a darker color. Pulled out my fine line black marker and colored it. If it doesn't last I can always find some type of black paint and a small brush.