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ALMOST locked out

thinkn9a

Well Known Member
I recently bought a project, nearing completion, and hauled it home.

Much to my chagrin, when we went to pop the canopy (tip up) we found we were "locked out" by the canopy handle (621) at the top of the canopy. :eek: It was loose, and during the road trip,. managed to swing around to the locked position. Only through a great amount of luck and some creative coat hanger twisting,..:D did we manage to get it to a position we could open the canpoy.

while I don't plan on any more road trips,.. in the future I really don't want to find that some ground handling managed to get it to swing around to locked postion,..

Any good ideas with detents or straps or??
 
I've stolen so many ideas from the forum that I forget which thread they appeared on...

However, this is how I solved that issue (If you're the original owner, I know there's better pictures):

You basically cut the delrin block a little short then put a spring over the top of the latch shaft, use a washer and pin it per plans. Depending on the spring, it should suck the latch up, thus it won't be able to turn past the tip-up frame. You pull down and twist to engage.

Hope this helps.

IMG_0480.jpg
 
That should do it!

Thanks Jim,.. already have the picture printed and in my file

I knew this would be the place to get the answer,... and not have to spend time figuring out the wrong and expensive way to solve the problem
 
I recently bought a project, nearing completion, and hauled it home.

Much to my chagrin, when we went to pop the canopy (tip up) we found we were "locked out" by the canopy handle (621) at the top of the canopy. :eek: It was loose, and during the road trip,. managed to swing around to the locked position. Only through a great amount of luck and some creative coat hanger twisting,..:D did we manage to get it to a position we could open the canpoy.


We had this happen to one of our local pilots on a breakfast run and it had to be most amusing to see a bunch of us standing around trying to figure out how in the world we were going to get that plane open...... :eek:

As in your case, it was only after a great deal of effort and, well, whatever, that the canopy was finally opened. (The fact that several of the pilots are engineers surely didn't help matters!).

One solution I saw somewhere several years ago was to incorporate a 1/4" hole in the canopy over the latch so a screwdriver could be inserted into the latch and interfaced with a slotted fitting in the latch handle. A small tape dot was used to seal the hole. Sounds like a lot of trouble but......

On my plane, the block that carries the latch is tight enough that I've never had the latch to move on its own. Maybe tightening up the block to increase friction on the latch would be a simple solution.
 
RE:Solution to lock out

Some time ago I found these on some great builders web site......didn't document the source....sorry......but it is the method I will use for my tip up.








Frank @ SGU RV7A .....last 10000 details
 
Easiest solution of all. If if the handle works itself loose, simply apply a little torque to the structural screws/bolts holding the UHMW block. It'll compress the block slightly and you won't have to worry about the handle turning on it's on.
 
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Handle

I added an outside handle, never liked the idea of lifting the canopy from the side.


handleye3.jpg


Gary Kremers
N715AB
 
Gary, I love it!

I saw that a year ago and "rescue" came to mind.

I am doing it and safety sake isn't a bad reason!

Nice!

:) CJ
 
Locked in...

oh yeah... brings back memories.

My 3 year old son was "playing" inside the cockpit one day as I washed the plane outside. About half way into the exersise I noticed that he'd twisted the handle and locked himself in. The first thoughts were panic-related but I figured that as soon as I showed concern that the lad would probably panic as well and it would all turn to custard from there. Thankfully by the time I'd finally finished washing the plane my son had played with the handle again and unlocked the canopy. I had about 30 minutes to think about what I was going to do if he couldn't get it sorted on his own and came to the realiseation that drilling a small hole above the latch would enable a screwdrive to get in to turn the handle.

I don't know that I'd bother with the exterior handle idea, it's good but if you really need rescuing from the plane that bad and that fast then the last thing anyone is going to worry about is the canopy latch on top... especially a firecrew. They've been waiting their whole life to use that axe! :D
 
unstable canapy latch

I recently bought a project, nearing completion, and hauled it home.

Much to my chagrin, when we went to pop the canopy (tip up) we found we

I used a simple fix by removing the handle and laying the shaft across an anvil and then rapping one good lick with a hammer to deform the shaft a little bit. That extra friction resists turning. Works perfectly.

Kelly Landrum
N6RP EGG E4 S/c 155 hrs.
 
Sorry folks, the link does not seem to work. If interested, simply do a search for tip up latch mod.

Cheers,

db
 
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