R

ron sterba

Well Known Member
Well its time for the the Plexiglass to get fitted to the frame on my 9A. I'am gathering comments on your installation. I have built the tracks to specs and the top rail and the rollers in the tubes.
After reading the plan directions and talking to the factory rep and gathering construction ideas from several builders I feel I'am ready to mount and cut the plexiglass.
So far I have heard cut this LONG.LEAVE YOURSELF SOME FOREGIVENESS. Install the side panels in metal or do them in fiberglass. OK TO USE SPACERS.SIKAFLEX or RIVETS. All of the above makes great craftsmanship as they told me their build stories.
I have come away thinking that the welders of the frames are the problem. My builder friend said how come we don't have to re-shape our engine mounts? They're welded! GOOD COMMENT I said. So this is a exericise in fruitility or what! Company sponsored education? Well I'am not all that sure. As my professional welder friend said the cool down process of a precision part should be done in a bath of oil for proper cooling of the weld.
Well I'am not a welder but but I can surely say that the builders I have talked to have dug into canopy project like that of a hike into the forest!

Alligators that look at you with a appetite just inviting you in. Keeping that Alligator going in the right direction means tapping the ground on either side of him on the straight and narrow road to perfection. Seems that builders enter that hike on all different paths with one goal in mind. THE RV SMILE!! ONLY ONE TRIP THROUGH THE FOREST!!!!! So I'am soliciting your paths either through the forest or the path with the least resistance. I hope my jungle is like yours! Builder websites invited as well as every comment. Just remember to use dashed lines in your descriptive words of WISDOM! Thanks to all whom share and to all whom learn!

9A Ron in Oregon
 
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My Advice to you Ron

Do like everyone else that has built their own plane and canopy. Follow Van's instructions, get input from a small number of builders that have gone through it and proceed. Don't go looking for guidance from the universe. You'll only be more confused. You've got several good builders right there in Salem than can give you suggestions, but you've got to get your head into it and move ahead. They don't all come out show winners, but your canopy will give you protection from the wind and elements. We've all had trepidation, but in the end you just have to move ahead.

Jake Thiessen
Independence, OR
 
You are speaking from experience my friend. I know, I have seen your work! Its like excellent! This will all start in a very short period of time. Thanks for the encouragement Jake. Its well taken!!!

Thanks, I needed that!

Ron in Oregon.
 
Well heres a update to the canopy frame. I started that bending in the canopy frame. On & off 37 times to tweak the frame. The square side rails are not easy to bend! Still haven't got the aft 8" of bend in the side rails. Other than a small kink in the rail its hard to work it. The front and aft tubing is easy to bend. I only weigh 160 lbs and it doesn't seem to work well by pushing with my feet on the rail supported by two 2X4's. Got some bend but this bar should have been bent more at the factory before it was welded. It should have bee made to match the curve of the fuselage. So I now believe that no two canopy frames are the same. So tommorrow I expect to finish the bend with bigger artilllery!!!!!!! or just buy another and go for it again. So now I can appreciate what builders go thru for the Sliding canopy frame. Look for a Tuesday update.
 
UPDATE! Thanks Gary.
I used the one idea where you used the 2 X 4's to the outside and the clamp with the block of wood pushing the bend at the middle of the square side bow. This worked well but that aft section was a bear!!!!!!!!!!!! I also had a bunch of little bents on the inside rail from the blocks of wood squeezing in on that rail and the square rail collapsing inward. We spent 12 hours trying to configure that canopy frame. Total hours with the helpers around twenty. WHY IN THE WORLD ARE THE SLIDER CANOPY BUILDERS DISCRIMINATED BY VANS. BENDING THAT SIDE RAIL IN THE SQUARE TUBE CONFIGURATION SHOULD NOT BE DONE THAT WAY ACCORDING TO A FABRICATION SHOP MGR I TALKED TO. IN MY 9A PLANS IT SAID THAT THE EARLIER PRODUCTION OF THE SIDE RAILS WERE MADE OUT OF ROUND TUBING Which I believe then it was much more bender friendly than the Square tube. I'am going up to VANS in the next couple of days to discuss this matter. I had two other builder friends come over to try bending these rails. Next to impossible they said. One builder built a 9A (flying) and the other a RV10. Both said i should have considered a TIP UP! We are over Sixty and my hands have a hard time crankin' vises or clamps to manufacture the radius in the side rails. Maybe VANS doesn't know about how this square tubing should be bent. Van's vendor (WELDER) shop should be bending the curve into this square side to match the the fuselage curve before they weld. According to the fabrication manager 4130 steel tubing should be bent by a tool designed for just that procedure. He did mention a manfacturer and model of the tool but said the tool is made by many companies. He better discribed it as the bender unit at a muffler shop that bends tailpipes.. They all have a similar tool that does that bending. Whether or not that muffler shop has the set up for square tubing is something you'll have to ask. I do not know if Dick (VANS) is aware of the problems of cracking paint/welds at those joints around the canopy frame.. There should NOT be such a big headache with this part of the build. Hard to imagine that a vendor would produce a frame without a prefect JIG!! Come on VANS!!!! I would like your support on this matter and I'll take it to VANS and ask for supportive dialogue. I know Vans listens because they have updated plans because builders made informative dialogue. It the nature of the BEAST.

Ron in Oregon
 
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Update Wed evening.
Today it got to 89 and sunny so I set the canopy frame into the plexiglass canopy. Found the center line of the plexiglass forward and aft and drew a line front to back. Now used a 3/4" X 3/4" angle between the front roller brackets to my track width measurement and then minus 1/2" for plexiglass expansion after the plexiglass is installed to the canopy frame. I now slid the canopy frame for and aft down that centerline I drew before. Located the best match in the curves of the canopy frame and plexiglass canopy. I used the 1/8" PLEXIGLASS drill at 400 rpm's. There was no melting of the plexiglass but just fine plexiglass chips. That was a good thing! Then I enlarged the hole to 5/8" with a unibit and that went well at the 400 rpm's of my batt drill. Used 220 and then 400 grit sand paper to finished the hole. Clamped the sides of the plexiglass to the canopy side frame bows. Seems the warm temp was good for the two to match and settle into each other. OK !!! SO I DID IT! My first hole drilled and reseached alot to know what I should expect in this part of the project. I did check with two fabrication shops today about making the side bows bend in 3/32" more each side in the aft 8". Both techs suggested a torch because the frame was already welded up. Both guys said that the bends SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE FIRST before welding the canopy frame up. I was told that I will be able to adjust for that 3/32" later. PHEW!!!! When you exhaust all your options then your buddies say it will be OK! I'LL go with that. Its all about education, and thats a good thing.

Ron in Oregon 9A
 
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