Tip-up canopy side seals?

[Paul Eastham]

I have a slight gap between the canopy skirt and side fuse decks in a few places -- enough to show daylight from inside the cockpit, and would like to seal it for appearance if nothing else.

I'm under the impression that some sort of rubber seal goes (or can go) between the canopy frame and fuselage deck -- but can find no mention in the manual or plans. I have a bunch of different rubber seals that came with the kit, I imagine at least some of them are for the forward canopy seals on the subpanel. Any tips?

Related canopy question: is there a trick to separating the gas struts from the little ball joint? I've tried pulling on them but they didn't break loose -- though I didn't pull that hard for fear of breaking the strut.

Thanks - Paul

[frankh]

that black spring steel thingy on the end of the strut. If you lever it up with a sharp pointy thing that will release the ball.

As tp seals, yes I never found reference to it either but I do see 5' of left over black seal that looks like its just made for the job...Stick it to the canopy frame, not the fuese side rail of course.

Frank

[N523RV]

Paul,

Even what Van's provides you really isn't thick enough.. or at least in my case. McMaster has some that would work pretty good I think. I saw reference to them on Dan C's site. If you go to the McMaster catalog and look at page 3258 you'll see all sorts.

[GaryK]

Roberta posted this a couple of years ago, it works perfectly

If you want something really nice for the sides, use
ALL STRIP WEATHERSEAL from Aircraft Spruce.
Part # 05-00898

Gary
N715AB

[robertahegy]

Thanks, Gary. It still works great. Stick it to the canopy frame. That way it is not as visible or likely to get damaged from feet and hands during entry and exit.

Roberta

[dan]

http://www.mcmaster.com/nav/enter.as...2&pagenum=3258

Push-On Edge-Trim Rubber Seal Bulb Next To Grabber, 1/32" Edge, 3/8" Bulb Width

That's the stuff I prefer...was 95 cents per foot last time I ordered it, and it works great. I like that it's a "bulb" seal rather than a solid foam pad. That way it can grow and shrink as needed as the canopy contracts in cold and expands in heat. And it doesn't apply any force against the canopy & side deck. The bulb compresses and it just rides there, filling the gap. The bulb is 3/8" but can compress way down without force. Good luck using 3/8" foam...it would be too fat.

I used a foam seal once and my canopy got stuck latched because of the decompression force of the seal.