warbingtonmasonry
Active Member
Dear group:
As an atheist I make no apology to the faithful for piloting a single-seat Zenith CH150 Acro, whose side-tilting single-place canopy was destroyed (by me)in the wind by inadvertent failure to latch after closure.
Airplane Plastics in Ohio built a new canopy to my frame and specifications in record time at extremely reasonable cost. I believe the canopy they made fits my frame perfecly. Included by Airplane Plastics were several hours of advice and instruction and opportunities to see their shop in action fabricating canopies. A picture is worth many words, and so was the chance to actually see skilled men shaping canopies. I am a very satisfied customer, and reccomend Airplane Plastics in Ohio highly.
My airplane has a canopy frame made, it appears, of round thin wall 3/4" steel tube (steel electical conduit?). It has a good latch/lock mechanism and alignment pins.
The canopy was screwed to the tube @ 4" centers. The #10 screws held, under finishing washers, an aluminum skirt. It had held up well, until I forgot to latch it.
My question is whether the adhesives used in canopy installations will attach satisfactorily a canopy to a steel tube frame. The tube can be stipped of paint and cleaned. The canopy is tangent to the tube at one point along the perimeter of the frame. The canopy can be shimmed out to accomodate any reasonable thickness of adhesive, and the adhesive could be filleted easily at least as wide as the diameter of the tube frame. Alternatively, a 1"strip of sheet steel could be welded to the exterior of the perimeter of the frame to provide adhesive surface. Such welding would be a big job. The gluing surface would probably be optimal, as the plane of the sheet would be parallel to the canopy.
I am reluctant to drill screw attach holes if there is a better way to attach the canopy to the frame.
The canopy is not yet trimmed.
Any and all ideas or advice are most welcome.
Thanks
As an atheist I make no apology to the faithful for piloting a single-seat Zenith CH150 Acro, whose side-tilting single-place canopy was destroyed (by me)in the wind by inadvertent failure to latch after closure.
Airplane Plastics in Ohio built a new canopy to my frame and specifications in record time at extremely reasonable cost. I believe the canopy they made fits my frame perfecly. Included by Airplane Plastics were several hours of advice and instruction and opportunities to see their shop in action fabricating canopies. A picture is worth many words, and so was the chance to actually see skilled men shaping canopies. I am a very satisfied customer, and reccomend Airplane Plastics in Ohio highly.
My airplane has a canopy frame made, it appears, of round thin wall 3/4" steel tube (steel electical conduit?). It has a good latch/lock mechanism and alignment pins.
The canopy was screwed to the tube @ 4" centers. The #10 screws held, under finishing washers, an aluminum skirt. It had held up well, until I forgot to latch it.
My question is whether the adhesives used in canopy installations will attach satisfactorily a canopy to a steel tube frame. The tube can be stipped of paint and cleaned. The canopy is tangent to the tube at one point along the perimeter of the frame. The canopy can be shimmed out to accomodate any reasonable thickness of adhesive, and the adhesive could be filleted easily at least as wide as the diameter of the tube frame. Alternatively, a 1"strip of sheet steel could be welded to the exterior of the perimeter of the frame to provide adhesive surface. Such welding would be a big job. The gluing surface would probably be optimal, as the plane of the sheet would be parallel to the canopy.
I am reluctant to drill screw attach holes if there is a better way to attach the canopy to the frame.
The canopy is not yet trimmed.
Any and all ideas or advice are most welcome.
Thanks