Tip: Canopy Glue - Weld-On?

[Hwood]

Ok, after much research (thanks Mickey and Mike) and deliberation, the decision was made to glue the canopy on my -8 as opposed to riveting.

Following Sikaflex's instructions, all went well until the next morning when I decided to test the strength of the glue. Gently pulling on a corner of the canopy, it easily separated from the frame.....and I mean easily. This cannot be good.

More research, more questions, and more phone calls to the tech guys at Sikaflex (who were great , by the way) and we concluded that the canopy rail needed to be sanded, cleaned & primed before gluing. On a side note, I might mention the fact that the instructions clearly say to apply to painted surfaces without sanding and priming.

Anyway, I thought I would pass on this little bit of information to anyone contemplating the glue route (which by the way, is much easier). Common sense told me to buff up the powdercoating, but being a good soldier, I followed directions.

The canopy now? All is well. Easily cut thru the bead of glue, cleaned everything up, then reapplied....so far so good. (i.e., no cracks yet)

FWIW

Hwood

[Davepar]

Yikes! I'm sure that was a terrible feeling when the canopy pulled off the frame.

Let us know how it turns out the second time around. I'm pretty sure I'm going the traditional route, but I'm following the glue pioneers closely.

Dave

[Hwood]

Cut the canopy off, re-preped the frame and reglued.....on for good now!

A little cleaning and finish work, and the canopy wil be on the frame in less than a week (including aformentioned boo-boo)

Hwood

[Scott Will]

I am wanting to add some glue along the canopy side rails on my -7. Has anyone heard of Weld-On #10? Van's uses Weld-On #3 on the RV-10 windows but they are bonded to the fiberglass shell. So I went to the company's website and found this structural adhesive.

I know Sikaflex is often used but they recommend a 1/8" gap between the pieces. Can't do this on the side rails.

Any good results with Weld-On.

Also found this good reference for drilling canopies.

Thanks,

[Rene Bubberman]

We glued on the canopy last week, worked very well. Check out http://websites.expercraft.com/PHVII...ry&log_id=6287 for details.

To make some room for the Sikaflex we removed some acrylic from the outside of the edge.

[RV8RIVETER]

Thanks to Mickey, for his thorough research. Luckily I read to sand and clean the frame before hand. I have tried to pull up a corner and it is on thight. While it still remains flexible enough because of the nature of the adhesive, it is definitely not going anywhere. It turned out very nice. I think glueing is the only way to go.

I should think with the flexibility it is probably stronger and more impact resistant, since there are no stress points to trigger a crack. I remember the videos I saw of F-16 canopies taking bird strikes. You would not beleive the size of the wave that rippled thru the canopy.

My theoretical musings only.

Wade Lively