[selhardt]

The disturbance in the force you are feeling is my cracked canopy.

Pretty far along, skirts are (were) fit, I was drilling out one of the keeper rivets and - pop, a 2" crack.

My analysis is this, the hole I chose for the keeper rivet was one where the hole was slightly off the tangent of the frame. I had one or 2 wander a bit from where I intended. The pop rivet had some bending load on the canopy that would not have been there if the hole were on the proper tangent and with a drill bit going thru the hole, it went.

SO, I get to decide again - rivet or glue and here is my question - for you rivet-less souls who have sika'd the canopy on, it seems to me that it is impossible to attach the skirts without drilling holes in the canopy for clecos. (which are blind after the sika). The other choice would be to cut the top lip off of the skirt and glass it in place, but the skirt still has to be held tight during this process.

I see a lot of "here is my glue job" pictures and discussions, but I can't seem to find any pics of what the skirt fitting process becomes.

Can anyone elaborate?

Bummed, but mostly over it in Minnetonka...

 

[Rick6a]

.....it seems to me that it is impossible to attach the skirts without drilling holes in the canopy for clecos. (which are blind after the sika). The other choice would be to cut the top lip off of the skirt and glass it in place, but the skirt still has to be held tight during this process.

I see a lot of "here is my glue job" pictures and discussions, but I can't seem to find any pics of what the skirt fitting process becomes.....

Using transfer punches, a old technique that seems largely unknown to today's advanced match hole kit assemblers, my experience in accurately drilling and fitting the canopy skirts to the frame was quick and very easy to accomplish:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=19643&highlight=canopy+skirt+transfer

It seems to me you could drill the holes that attach the fiberglass skirt to the aluminum frame and then later have an excellent point of reference to align and accurately locate the Plexiglas with the attachment method you feel most comfortable with.

 

[SHIPCHIEF]

I Sika'd the canopy and the skirts.
The Skirts were easy and only required about 5 clecos to hold each in. None thru the canopy. The holes thru the skirt and steel frame tubes were easy too, I used a drop light to create a shadow thru the back of the skirt, then I drilled the fiberglass skirt into the center of the shadow, which was the center of the tube.
The clecos pull the skirt in tight enough for a good bond line to the canopy. I placed spacers between the skirt and steel tubes in various places to control the curvature of the skirt and keep the edges true to the fuselage and canopy. Once the Sika sets, these shapes are held and both the skirt and canopy fit well with no waves or puckers from rivets pulling the surface down.
Just remember to pull the electrical tape that forms the edge of the Sika as soon as you have smoothed the Sika. The Sika sets up pretty fast, so if you pull that tape soon, it leaves a beutiful clean edge.
There are a few pics on my EAA chaper's picture file under my name, click on the link below:
There is one pretty good pic of the right side of the plane, skirt on and 5 clecos still in.