R

retasker

Member
I am having difficulty with the canopy on my 9A. What happens is that it is essentially impossible to start it sliding from the closed position.

I thought it was the rear pin blocks that were binding, but it does the same thing with them completely removed.

If I am inside, I can get it started by slightly pushing up on the rear. From the outside, the only way is to pull up on the rear. Since the canopy rear skirts are not yet installed that is now possible, but when they are installed it will be impossible. Once I get it to move about 1/2 - 1 inch, then it moves back easily.

I have checked everything I can think of and everything seems to be spot on, but I am obviously missing something.

Has anyone run into this problem? Does anyone have suggestions as to what I should look for?
 
During my conditional inspection, my A&P said I needed to spray my side rails and center back rail of my RV-8 with silicone spray on a more regular basis. Might help in your case ?
 
sliding canopy

I installed a pull tab centered on the top near the rear. Saw lots of them at Kosh over the years so I copied one I thought looked functional and good. I also installed a lifting tab on the side skirt near the back on the pilots side. This way I can lift and pull back on the top ring while pulling up on the side tab.

I am not flying yet but it works well in the shop.
 
Something I found with my -6 when I was building the canopy was that the canopy tracks were rubbing against the side of the rollers, causing a lot of drag. I forget how I corrected this, but I did, and don't remember it being a big deal.

Take a look and see if there is anything rubbing or scrubbing when the roller moves fore and aft.
 
I had the exact same problem with my 9A slider. I ultimately discovered that, as mentioned previously, it was due to side pressure exerted by the rollers against the canopy rails. The good news is that with time this has improved considerably so that now there is minimal resistance. Some measures that seemed to help with mine were:

I installed a small grip using angle aluminum (as many others have done) on the pilot side of the the canopy skirt.
I used lithium grease on the inside of the canopy rails.
I used a liberal amount of silicone lubricant on the rear canopy track and applied it frequently.
I used BOELUBE on the pins that fit into the rear blocks
Finally, I actually had to make a wedge out of aluminum scrap to wedge between the forward portion of the canopy frame and the roll bar to start the canopy sliding back when I was inside the cockpit.

Hope this helps.

Peter K
9A 330 hrs
 
Paul K said:
I installed a pull tab centered on the top near the rear. Saw lots of them at Kosh over the years so I copied one I thought looked functional and good. I also installed a lifting tab on the side skirt near the back on the pilots side. This way I can lift and pull back on the top ring while pulling up on the side tab.

I am not flying yet but it works well in the shop.
Click to expand...
The tabs mentioned above are a must for opening my canopy from the outside. The top tab with the hole in it allows for slipping my index finger in it. I put an angle aluminum pull tab on both sides of the canopy rather than just on the pilot side. When opening from the outside I grab the side pull tab with one hand and slide my index finger through the hole on the top tab. With the side tab I am pulling up and back at the same time while the top tab gets pulled straight back.

When sitting inside I used to have to reach back to the rear pin area behind the passenger seat and push up and back while pulling the handle near the windshield backwards to get it to release. This has loosened up over time though. Now I just grab the handle and pull hard backwards to open the canopy. My biggest fear though while doing this in the cockpit is having my elbow slam back into my wife's head. I definitely have to be cognizant of where the path of my bent elbow is traveling as it can come very close to her head.

My canopy was very difficult to open at first but now after a year + flying, it is much easier to move. It is still too hard for my wife to get open. The procedures for opening the canopy while in the cockpit is one of the important briefing topics I go over with every passenger who flies with me. I make sure to point out that the canopy is very snug and may require quite a bit of force for them to open it.
 
was fine, now binds at 100+ hrs!

...so it used to open and close with one finger, now it seems to glue itself shut! I ran a coat of vaseline on the canopy bow, which seemed to help a bit, but obviously if this has jus started, something has worn, mis-aligned etc.
Probably a passenger or Young Eagle did a chin-up on the canopy bow in their exuberance to get out! :).....funny the stuff that happens when you're not looking!
Definitely a problem if my passenger is older, or not strong.
 
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