it sure is, There is not a single rivet or hole in my Slider Canopy. I even used Sika to glue my One piece fiberglass canopy skirt to the canopy. heres some pictures if you would like to see.
http://n87dx.com/category/canopy/
Hi
To all that are considering SikaFlex for their canopy (tip-up or slider). After doing shear testing with samples of materials (both tip-up and slider) supplied by Van's, we did some testing at Sika. If ANY of the steps are not done correctly (i.e. cleaning, surface prep, priming, application), the test scores are too low. So Van's and Sika are NOT supporting this application. Neither want ANY canopies coming off during flight for obvious reasons.
Frank
That's funny, taken in perspective.
Any part incorrectly installed on your airplane could cause problems, so what's your point?
When are you moving it out to the airport?
As near as I can tell, RV builders have been using SikaFlex for at least 8 years. To date there are no reports of a canopy leaving the airframe ...
After doing a LOT of reading and emailing with other builders, and research on the stuff....
I just ordered all the Sika supplies.
226, 209 and 295i (the new updated 295UV).
FYI, sailboatowners.com was about $60 cheaper than jamestowndistributors. The primer alone was about $23 cheaper.
As near as I can tell, RV builders have been using SikaFlex for at least 8 years. To date there are no reports of a canopy leaving the airframe and just one incident of cracking (and it attributed by the builder to lack of adequate edge smoothness - there have been many reports of cracked canopies attached with rivets). How well Sika sticks to powder coat paint may be an issue but it is designed to work with plastic and does. If there is a concern that the frame paint will release the entire canopy, Sika and all, then better go with rivets.
The issue here is liability (Sika) and not wanting to fix something that in their opinion is not broken (Vans).
That being said, I do not recommend to anyone the use of SikaFlex.
After doing a bunch of reading on the subject I came to these conclusions:
1.) It looks much easier to apply/attach than rivets, and much less stressful on both me and the canopy.
2.) Sika is used for installation of windows in a marine enviroment. Growing up on the water and around boats, I know how harsh this is. If salt water and never ending sunlight in a boat slip aren't enough to break it down....
3.) The data says it has a tensile strength of 160psi. Doing some quick eyeball math, and assuming a 1" wide fillet all the way around I get about 350 square inches of contact area. 350x160=you're never ever going to get even 5% of the way there.
Sorry to jack your thread there Bret!