S

scottw

Member
I tried pulling the two skins tighter together and making another splice plate with limited results, still a gap.
canopy1j.jpg


As you can see, when I put pressure on the canopy I can mostly make it go away, any thoughts/suggestions are appreciated.
http://i1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff505/swilder1/canopy-1.jpg
 
One of the harder things to get "right" IIRC on the -4. It looks to me you might need to recut the thing. IF you have the bottom edges on the R&L clecoed there is no way you are going to get the thing flat as there is "extra" material toward the front that is looking for a place to go. Hence the bulge.

If the edges are not clecoed then you should be able to start at the middle and work you way down each side that the front and rear drilling and clamping as you go. Then mark the edge where it needs to be trimmed at the front.

I hope that makes sense....

Richard Bibb
RV-4 N144KT
 
Having gone through this on an RV-4, here are my suggestions:

1. Try using a hand shrinker on the bottom of the skirt where the gaps are.

2. If you are not satisfied, try a fiberglass layup instead of the aluminum skirt. I was able to get mine to fit pretty well using the shrinker. The marks that the shrinker leaves can later be dealt with in the primer/paint phase.

Not a very fun part of the project but very satisfying when you finally get it right. :)
 
It becomes hard to move that piece around much because it's now clecoed to the frame. I had the same situation and wound up using a shrinker which worked fine. You will be able to curve it down and get a good fit.
 
Good Advice

John, Pat and Richard all have good ideas. I believe that I used both a shrinker and fiberglass to get my desired results. I did this in 1988 with my RV 4 and it is still flying with the original work that I did.Steve Barnes "The Builders Coach"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.