AltonD

AltonD

Well Known Member
anybody have the Van's customer support email address. I cracked my canopy. I am sick. ~ 6" crack right at the right, forward siderail hole. I stopped drilled it. It is ugly. Right now, I am thinking a new one. I may feel better about it tomorrow, but not right now.
 
I cracked my canopy. I am sick. ~ 6" crack right at the right, forward siderail hole.
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Alton, so sorry to hear about the cracked canopy. You are living one of the worst experiences many of us have feared while building the plane. The most stressful part of my RV-6 build was drilling the final couple of holes in the canopy (Oh please...don't crack now!).

A suggestion.........continue building. Go ahead and get the canopy completed up to the point where you might have to bury the edges in fiberglass (you didn't say whether you have a tipper or slider, though I suspect a slider). In fact, go ahead and finish firewall forward and your panel. Just let the cracked canopy simmer while you get your frustration in hand. At some point as you near the completion of the plane, and after you have had a chance to think about the situation, you can make the decision about whether to replace the canopy prior to flight or later....or not at all (there are methods for fusing the crack).

For the benefit of current tipper builders, for many, many years it has been known that it is best to not drill the forwardmost hole on each side of the canopy. The plexi is under a lot of stress in that area and the canopy is fine structurally without the forward fasteners. While my experience is with the tip-up, the above info may also apply to the slider.

Hang in there Alton, you are still going to have a superb plane in spite of the temporary hiccup!
 
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Good Advice

Alton,

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Sam's advice is always very good. Move on and the pain will subside - and a clear head will let you assess and decide.

I managed to put a big dent in the leading edge of my RV-9A wing. Don't ask how it happened - but after looking at it for a while, I realized it would be a good place for a landing light - Talk to some other builders - you might find a way to make this all work out.
 
Sam,
I had the same, unfortunate experience , with my RV8. give "Todds Canopys a call, I do not have the # available, he is located in SE Florida.
Todd, a pleasure to deal with supplied me with a new, and better than Van's
canopy at less than the cost to crate and ship from Oregon. If you are like me, you will never be happy with the Old, stop drilled, canopy.
Total cost from Todd for a new, thicker, tinted, canopy was $300. Todd even met me part way with the canopy in his Van.
Good Luck
Dick Jason
 
Unfortunately unless things have changed Todd doesn't do the side by side canopies. Sorry to hear about the crack. That sucks. I would follow Sam's advise. Just fuggetaboutit for now. Keep on building and don't let the set back slow you down.
 
email address

[email protected]

or tel : 503 678 6545 and option 4 and they will be open in approx 10 mins for a couple of hours (if enough of them are back yet from OSH)
 
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weld on

how long a crack can be fixed with weld on. it wicks an and dries transparent ...or so i hear. water thin and will wick into the crack...now this would be a challenge to its claims...
in high school my brother made a plexi knife from three layers and the joint was impossible to see after buffing the edges

http://www.rplastics.com/weldon3.html
the last canopy i worked on had a crack in the same location only 1/2 inch long but this is how he was going to fix it. dont know if he did...no i wasnt the one to crack it. :rolleyes:
i started at the roll bar and worked my way forward a little on each bolt at the time then would make another pass from the same direction. mine was bulged out in this location. pretty bad about an inch or so..i am sure if it cracks latter this is where it will be.. :(
 
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Never used the #3 but I have used #40, which works on "cross-linked" acrylics too. I think that means something like PVC to Plexi or whatever combo you desire. I have also used #16. #16 is thin but like the description says it will have bubbles. I used #40 for bonding pvc to acrylic and while I didn't do any drop-testing it seems very strong. # 40 is used for acrylic plexiglass aquariums. It is thick but if you can spread the crack a little you should be fine. Look for an acrylics expert in your area and you might be able to get it done professionally. You can check with fish/aquarium (not the big chains like Petco) stores just don't tell them its for an airplane.


http://www.rplastics.com/weldon40.html
 
Al,

I'm so sorry...........and you were just saying how well the "big cut" went. This too shall pass.

I'm still looking forward to flying the Starduster up to meet you and see your project. My 8 will need canopy work shortly. Coming to see your project may provide me with some much needed advice. Hang in there!!!!

David Watson
Quincy, Fl
 
Decals

I have a buddy who stop drilled and put an EAA decal over his cracked canopy and went on. Good for a temporary fix.
 
What I think I did wrong:

My distance from the front edge of the canopy skin was 2.5 inches. Van's said their's was ~1.75". 2.5 was just where It was sitting nice. I think this brings the turn around the front corner a little too sharp. I don't think it would be under as much stress had I had the extra 3/4 inch. My rear window looks really good. If the cut on the next canopy is good, I just might use the existing rear window.

The front screw hole will not be used on the next canopy. I thought I did a lot of reading before fitting the canopy. This was the first suggestion that I had heard of leaving the lone screw out.

Thanks to all of the kind words. Yes, it is not as bad today as it was last night. I literally dropped the tools in the floor, shut off the compressor and went in the house (after I stop drilled the crack). Had I had a beer in the fridge, I would have had something to cry in.

I am going to build on. As I get closer to flight, I will buy another canopy. You are right, I will never be happy with it if I repair it. And I want to replace it prior to laying up the fiberglass. The upside, if there is one, the canopy frame is just about complete. I have even fabricated and mounted the gas strut attach points. I can go ahead and resolve the canopy frame, forward skin clearance issue. I wasn't excited about my 631A fit. I guess this gives me the excuse to replace them and try again. As my dad has always told me, "you might not have the time to do it right the first time, but you will the second time."

I tried calling Van's today, but placed the call just after they closed. I am curious just how much a new one cost.
 
$1000

Don't ask how I know. The good news is, you can take your existing one and lay it inside the new one, mark it with a sharpie, cut it, and it will fit almost perfectly the first cut. A buddy of mine cracked his, we ordered a new one, and had it completely recut and fitted in about 3 hours using this method.
 
The front screw hole will not be used on the next canopy. I thought I did a lot of reading before fitting the canopy. This was the first suggestion that I had heard of leaving the lone screw out.
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Alton, maybe this isn't as well known as it once was. Back in the RV dark ages (mid-late 90's, pre-prepunched and CAD drawings) many of us used the build notes written by Frank Justice and Will Cretsinger. The omission of the forward fasteners on the tip-up canopy was often mentioned on the RV-List and in various build notes. But maybe that info has now been "lost" by the current generation of builders. It's still a valid tip, however, and might save somebody's canopy.

By the way, so the newbie (prepunched :) ) builders can see what we used in the old days, here are Frank's notes:

http://www.edt.com/homewing/justice/index.html

And Will's notes:

http://home.earthlink.net/~gilalex/wing_docs/canopy_notes2.htm
 
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