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Canopy Stop Source?

Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
Hi All,

While I'm waiting for my inspection, I am working on a bunch of little "quality of Life" things on the -8. I want to put in a mid-point canopy stop, but don't think I can use the cam-style that Mickey shows on his web site, because I drilled my forward canopy roller holes at an angle, to make it easier to use pip pins. I have seen a plunger-type stop on a neighbor's plane, and he said it came from "somewhere in Florida"...and that's a big state.... ;)

Anyone have a link/source for such an animal?

Paul Dye
Trying to get to magnetometers and a compass to agree with two GPS's....TMI!!
 
canopy stops

Paul,

I have met the man who makes the plunger type stop you are looking for. I do not remember his name at the moment, but I can probably help you locate him. He has a hangar at Mid Florida airport, about 30 miles north of Orlando.

I will see if I can get some contact information for you.
 
I ran into the "guy from Florida" - sorry I can't remember his name - at Sun-N-Fun a couple of years ago and bought one of his plunger style canopy stops for my 8A. The reason I bought it was I was under the impression that you can't reach the canopy from the pilot's seat when it's all the way back. I've since removed it. Turns out you need some kind of a stop to prevent the canopy latch handle from hitting the rear seat bulkhead - I used approx 4 in. chunks of appropriately sized heater hose stuffed inside the track extrusion. With this rear stop in place I can easily reach the canopy from the pilot's seat - and I have pretty short arms. I also found the mid-travel stop to be more of an annoyance than a help. It was a pain to continually release it to get the canopy all the way back - to get something into or out of the back seat or rear baggage compartment. That's my $0.02 worth. But if you still want one, I'll sell you mine.

John Miller
 
Thanks!

Alan Erickson said:
I'm planning to use this item from McMaster-Carr:

Click to expand...


Thanks all for the responses - I found (with a little searching) the same one that Alan found. It's advantage is that you can pull and twist it to lock it out of the way - that way it's not always stopping the canopy, as mentioned by John. I like John's idea for the short heater hoses in the tracks to stop it from banging into the rear bulkhead...

Paul Dye
 
aft stop only on ours

Paul,

I agree with John Miller. You probably don't need a mid-point stop (I can reach the canopy myself pretty easily), but you do need a stop at the back end to keep from messing up your bulkhead and handle. I used a scrap piece of UHMW plastic attached with a screw and nut as the stop. Here's a picture taken just before I drilled it (from the bottom) to give you an idea.

042505-3.jpg


Good luck next week with the inspection.
 
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Rigging123.jpg
Rigging127.jpg

Rigging126.jpg

I installed these on my Rocket. I've found them invaluable since it is more difficult to reach behind you to grab the canopy once you're seated. You only need one, although I installed one on each side of mine.
 
Rear Canopy Stop

Jeff, yours is much smaller, lighter, and simpler than mine. The only advantage of my system is that it's already installed! :)



(Click on photo for more details)
 
mid-point vs back stop

Hi Mickey,

You've got a great idea there. Mine is installed now too, actually it was several weeks before the first flight. That was May 31st, so it's hard to believe that we've already got 92 hours on it since then! You've got to get yours finished!

The only drawback to not installing a mid-point stop and just one in the back like Mickey and I is that you have to use caution after you open it. After flying down final in Houston and there's not enough air flowing through the vents, the first thing I do on the roll out is open the canopy and get it past my head. I learned pretty quickly that after you turn off the runway and goose the throttle to taxi, the blast can send the canopy all the way back against the stop pretty hard. No damage to the canopy from those first few times, but now I push it all the way back "gently" against the stop so it doesn't do it on it's own.
 
Canopy Mid Stop

I bought one some time ago (the plunger type) from the guy in Florida.

I need a new one. Is he still selling them. If so, how may I get in touch with him.

Any help please?
 
Ironflight said:
I want to put in a mid-point canopy stop, but don't think I can use the cam-style that Mickey shows on his web site, because I drilled my forward canopy roller holes at an angle, to make it easier to use pip pins.
Click to expand...

Going back to Paul's original post, there is a way to install the cam style mid point latch even if your canopy roller holes are drilled at an angle. I had the same issue on my airplane, although instead of pip pins, an AN525 screw was used and it was installed at an angle.

First step is to buy a new canopy roller from Vans. Remove the old one and then slip on the new one and get it properly lined up. Drill a hole in the new one using the forward hole in the canopy frame as a guide, but use a drill that will allow tapping of the hole. Once the hole is drilled and tapped, use a short AN525 screw to temporarily hold it together. Drill the hole for the cam, and tap this one as well. Once everything is drilled and tapped, remove the screws, and reinstall with a drop of Lock-Tite. Use the variety that allows for somewhat easy removal in case you need to get it apart in the future.

My airplane was done this way and has worked well for over 100 hours. Torque-Seal shows the screws have not budged. Before I did this, I ran it by Van's to make sure it would be OK to have the additional hole in the canopy frame. Their response was 'no problem, it's steel and plenty strong'.
 
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