J

John Brunke

Member
This past weekend I glued the Plexiglas on to the frame of my RV7 tip-up.

There have been a lot of helpful threads on this website and I would like to
thank everyone who helped me out.

Now that this learning curve is out of the way I would like to pass on some of the things I found out.

I called the Tech folks at Sika. While they do not want to talk about using this on an airplane, they will help you if you can just talk about aluminum and Plexiglas. They explained that for this operation there are two primers to be used.

One is the 209D which is used on the Plexiglas itself.

The other is 206 G+P for the bare aluminum. If you?re doing a slider with the powder coating you should check with Sika?s tech people on the correct primer. Since that didn?t really concern me, I did not look in to it.

I ordered all this stuff from Jamestown Distributors and they have a great web site including videos on how to use these products.

Buy lots of tape. I pulled all the original plastic off my plexi, since it got really crapped out while making the cuts. Put new plastic sheeting on with the wide blue 3m masking tape. I put that out just a touch from the lines where the primer would go. They I laid down electrical tape right along
the primer lines. Oh I did learn that if you pull electrical tape too tightly as you go along, I will work its way loose. I had to reattach some the day of the gluing. No big deal, but just don?t try to stretch it out. Also get something better than the cheap brush at Home Depot to put the primer on the plexi. I had some trouble with brush marks. I will use a better brush when doing the rear window. Not sure if a foam brush would have done better since I didn?t have any.

Also taped up the frame fairly well. To create the 1/8th inch minimum gap I made shims by gluing two Popsicle sticks together and cutting them into one inch lengths for the side areas and two to three inch lengths for the roll bar.
I then wrapped them in electrical tape with a long enough tail on them to pull them out later. Used three shims on each side rail and 5 along the roll bar.

Several people?s explanations of the gluing talked about a 10 to 15 minute window of workability on the glue. At 90 degrees that might be true. My hangar was at 65, that was with the heat on and now I realize I had a couple of hours to work with this the 295UV.

I did rush to get it done, only to realize later that my test pieces were still quite pliable. They?re not pliable anymore especially after a few days. The whole project work time will be longer with a cooler temps. Sorry to you folks in the south.

I did all this in two steps getting it glued in place on Friday night and doing the finish work Saturday afternoon. Sika?s tech folks tell you to reapply the Sika cleaner to reactivate the primer. Making the fillets was very easy.
While I did make a fillet tool for the forward inside area, I was able to just use a gloved finger to make nice fillets along the sides and the roll bar.

I also did the back area of the roll bar on Saturday after the initial glue had set. Two days later I pulled the tape and plastic off with no sticking problems. Now it is supposed to sit for two weeks and cure. The warmer and more humid it is, the quicker it will cure.

So, sorry for the long explanation, but I know I wanted as much info as I could get before doing this.

Oh, the last item is to make sure there is plenty of cold beer for the helpers.
I at least got that right.

John
 
Gluing canopy

Did you take pictures? If so I'd love to see them. I plan on doing the same and the 1/8" spacing idea sounds interesting and simple.
 
Side Rails

I will be helping a neighbor do his 7 Tip up. What did you do for the side rails?

I've been told not to worry about creating a btwn the inside rail and the glass because there will be plenty of glue on bottom. Also a small film of glue will do well.

Let me know.
 
Add me to the list!

I glued mine on last week. I couldn't have done it without all the great pictures and tips from those that had gone before me. I am really pumped now to finish the plane. You can see the photos here down at the bottom of the page.

http://www.jimsairplanes.com/finishkit.htm

If you look close at the metal frame you can see the little spacers. The material is screen spline rubber. It is 3/16 dia. black rubber that is grooved. It compressed to about an 1/8 inch. I glued 3/8 inch long pieces with 3M black trim adhesive running lengthwise on the tubing about every three inches. I left it in permanently and when I was finished I couldn't see them at all through the plexiglas. You can buy screen spline at any hardware. I used the grooved type because it had a lot more surface area for the glue to bond to. The only way to get the canopy to come off the frame is to destroy the frame and the canopy. Sikaflex is some amazing stuff.
 
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glued canopy

I just ordered my finish kit & I'm trying to decide if I should glue it.

Like alot of builders, I'm already having bad dreams about cracking the canopy.

So, about how much $$$ to buy the stuff to glue a -9 tip up?

The extra cost is one factor.

Is the "Vans" method of canopy construction "crack prone"?

Dave
-9A finish kit on order
 
It's not Vans

Any time you cut or drill Plexi you risk cracks. Van's provides the proper drill bit, but it still requires care, and a bit of luck never hurts.

The Sikaflex materials are around $100 - about $70 for the primer, and $20 each for a couple of tubes of adhesive. Tape and gloves are extra :rolleyes:
 
Jim F

I used Sika 295UV on my 9A slider windscreen and am happy with the results. I did a lot of the same things you describe, but to insure the alignment of the windscreen to the canopy at the roll bar I made some alum clips with two parts, a top and bottom and a #4 screw threaded into toe bottom half. I taped the top half to the canopy, carefully closed it while inside to assure that it did what I wanted it to do, and found that it gave me the desired eighth-inch gap between the plexy and the roll bar.
I did get out before using the glue! and the clips gave me a good alignment.
I also used 2 X 2's and straps to hold the sides of the windscreen snug at the sides of the cockpit. Without this the Plexy wanted to bow out away from the fuse at the sides.
I am convinced this is a great adhesive and gets us away from all those holes in the plexy. I was able to pass on the primer and cleaner to another builder, thereby sharing the cost. A half pint of the primer is expensive, but it goes a long way! (PS do NOT try to do this job without getting the primer and cleaner....)
 
Fellas,

Keep it simple.

2 ratchet straps, all the good stuff, 2 hours and we were done for a 7 tip up.

The rear window took an hour with 4 popsicle stick with carpet on.

I hope the photos show up, otherwise, I will sort out.

If you are impatient, email me and I will forward shots.

Mike


mmsnwg.jpg


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NEEDS MORE GAP.............

mike newall said:
If you are impatient, email me and I will forward shots.

Mike

b3szu0.jpg
Click to expand...

During Copperstate one year, I met a guy that was locked out of his RV6 tilt up. What happened was he fit the canopy to roll bar with MORE space than what you have here, but in the heat, the canopy expanded and pinched tight against the rear window.........:eek:
 
We are lucky to hit 80f in the UK - we will be checking fit before we finish, thanks for the heads up. We actually have nearly 1/8" which should be OK.
 
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