[Tim Fitzpatrick]

There I was flying in smooth air at 7,500 feet, VMC, 23F OAT and I hear a snap. The canopy had cracked about midway back vertically. The crack was about 18 inches in length and stopped at the top of the curve. Landed at the nearest airport, duct taped it and flew the rest of the way home. I have 195 hours on the aircraft and have flown it many times in cold air in Northwest Ohio. The issue may have been that the flight started earlier in the day in Houston Texas with 80 degree temps, a fuel stop in Missouri 55F on the ground. So warm to very cold may have helped propagate the crack. Now the question for those who have had this happen to them what route did you take to replace the aft part of the canopy? I put it together the way the plans called for so I drilled the shirt and canopy frame. Do I need just a new canopy and salvage the skirt and frame or do I go with a new skirt, frame and canopy? Not looking to replace everything if I do not need to. I am looking to start my annual along with fixing this and try and be ready by Sun and Fun. I am off till 16 April so I have time to work on it but also want to have time to fly before heading overseas again. Advice from those who have been down this road would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[EdH]

Paul Dye posted about his canopy replacement after a similar occurance last year.

 

[David-aviator]

What a bummer, Tim. Sorry to hear this happened.

I am wondering if Sikaflex might be a better way to go with the canopy?

 

[Ironflight]

Sorry to hear that you joined the club Tim, but you are in distinguished company (Danny King has had to do TWO replacements). All the case we know of have been related to significant temperature deltas at this point, but I am sure there can be other reasons. We know of one that cracked that was Sika'ed as well, so its not a perfect solution.

I found the replacement to be easier than expected, but it does require skirt repainting.

 

[pvalovich]

RV-8A Canopy Crack

Guess this may be one of "those that have, those that will" things.

My canopy cracked (about 3 inch crack) on the left side near the aft frame cross brace - while sitting in the hanger on a relatively cold night. I used Sika - not a single rivit in the canopy structure. Only thing I can think of to cause it was perhaps my failure to ensure an absolutely smooth edge with no nicks. Could have gotten a stress riser out of a small edge imperfection.

Fortunately, mine was short enough and far enough aft that I just stop drilled the thing and pressed on. No problems in 250 additional hours.

 

[Tim Fitzpatrick]

Thanks to all

Thanks to all who replied and the excellent information. It looks like I will drive down to Tipp City near Dayton on Friday and pick up a new canopy. Hopefully this will not delay the completion of my annual by too much and I can make it to Sun and Fun. Thanks again

 

[panhandler1956]

I live in fear of this! I wish you luck on rebuilding it and hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.

 

[gear1]

Cracked Canopy

Tim,

The answers to two of your questions were answered by implication, but to be more specific:

1. You do not need to purchase a new canopy frame; however it is a good time to have it re-powdercoated if the finish shows some wear. Also, if someof the holes are not drilled at the c/l of the tube, you can weld up the holes and redrill.

2. You do not need to use a new canopy skirt if yours is in good condition. When I replaced my canopy it was necessary to split the skirt at the rear centerline and to remove some material at the split to let the skirt lay properly against the canopy and to not stand off too far from the fuseloge. I simply covered the split inside and out with a layer of fiberglass tape/epoxy, then sanded and filled a few imperfections with West Systems 407 filler/epoxy mix.

I also installed rubber grommets in oversize holes in the canopy to give sme flex. Coming up on a year (in May) since the installation and no cracking, despite flying in some rather cold conditions.

 

[xblueh2o]

Only thing I can think of to cause it was perhaps my failure to ensure an absolutely smooth edge with no nicks. Could have gotten a stress riser out of a small edge imperfection.

Just wondering, has anyone investigated flame polishing for the edges and holes? Does somebody out there in VAF land know for sure that it would or would not work?