[ccryan]

Finished glassing my canopy yesterday and had the usual hard time getting the canopy open. Then my wife actually helped with idea of using one of those plastic room keys you get from a hotel. So I took one and sanded down an edge to make it "sharp", and ran it around the perimeter under the glass. It's a fairly soft plastic that won't scratch the canopy but just firm enough to put under the new glass. One swipe and the canopy came right open.

 

[Rick_A]

1001 uses

I used those plastic room keys a lot when I was building. They're great for work on fiberglass and other kinds of goop. They are easy to cut down to smaller widths when you need a narrow tool.

I use to travel a bunch for work and would always save them. At one point, when I was doing a lot of glass work, I would ask the desk clerks for a few extra's. If a clerk handed me a nice size stack, I felt like I hit the jackpot. Sometimes, this was the most productive part of the business trip.

 

[Remyswing]

windshield molding riveted?

Hello,
I have a question about windshield molding: has any body has experimented riveting windshield epoxy molding to upper skin as advised on plans ? does it really works or is it just an additionnal fastening ?
thanks

 

[ccryan]

I did not. Seems awefully redundant to me. My buddy with an -8 also did not. There is enough of a bond, in my humble opinion, with the glass and aluminium and that whole layup is so strong, it would take a lot to lift that.

 

[moodyjr]

Windshield Molding Rivetted?

Remy

I put the pop rivets in - probably overkill but only took 5 mins. More important I think is to put pop rivets in the sides to reinforce the bond joint of the skirt overlap - it is very easy to accidentally kick the skirt when entering/ exiting the aircraft. I know of a few -8's that have required to lower aft parts of the molding to be rebonded after this occurring - usually with both epoxy & pop rivets.

FWIW

John Moody
RV-8A