There are a couple of comments I have to make about the article in the Third Issue, 2005 (in addition to the fact that I am flattered to see it in there):
1) The comment "The ribs were mounted on the skirts at a height that just skimmed the canopy decks that rivet on top of the longerons." That is not correct for my application. My design calls for the rib to be located approximately 1/2" above the canopy deck adjacent to the maximum extension of the roller track extrusion - that is where the seal occurs as shown in the drawing with the article.
2) The part about the RTV silicone does not mention the sealing surface which implies the seal is between the skirt skag hanging down at the rear and the side of the fuselage. My canopy skirt has no hanging skag overlapping the side of the fuselage. The sealing surface is provided within the fuselage mold line at this point. Instead of extending the skirt tail down over the fuselage I extended fuselage up under the skirt with a slightly offset 1/16"x 3/4"x3/4" angle riveted to the top of the longeron aft of the roller track. See Photo below.
Bob Axsom
"Sealing a Side-by-side..." RVator Article
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