7/9 slider canopy frame width

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Just beginning the serious bending on the slider canopy frame. Manual says side rails of frame should parallel fuselage side skin but be inset 1/16". However, the manual also says that the builder needs to "subtract 1/2" at the front bow to compensate for the spreading of the frame caused by attaching the Plexiglas canopy." The two seem to contradict each other.

Should I read this to mean that I first align the side rails to 1/16" and then, from that point on, disregard that 1/16" distance and reduce the size of the front bow by another 1/2"? (The instructions for the aft bow seem to imply doing the same but by 3/8" instead of the 1/2" for the front) By the time I'm done then (but before I mount the plexi), the side rails will be much farther from the side skin, both at the front and at the back, than the original 1/16"?

Any help visualizing what I'm supposed to be doing here, and in what order, would really by much appreciated. (I've read through all the canopy threads I can find and still don't feel much more comfortable with it.)

Thanks.

 

[Goflyn]

Me Too

Hey Guys:

I'm in the same situation as Steve. I'm ready to start on the -7 canopy and am just as confused.

 

[mburch]

Steve,

I just drilled my canopy to the slider frame yesterday, so this is fresh in my mind. What worked for me was to do all the bending before drilling. I think if you do any bending of the frame after you drill the holes you are asking for trouble. I was able to get the canopy rolling smoothly in the tracks with the glass clamped securely to the frame, so after it was drilled and clecoed it continued to roll smoothly. To do this I had to bend a certain amount of preload into the frame so as to counteract the tendency of the glass to spread the frame out. Without the glass in place you can hardly roll it at all, but with the glass on it can be opened and closed with one finger.

I ran this by Van's before drilling anything and they said I was on the right track, so I feel confident that I went about this the correct way. With as much of a big deal as they make at the start of the canopy section about not bending the frame once the holes are drilled, I can't understand why they then turn around and suggest that you do exactly that on the following page. Maybe that part of the instructions is outdated or just prone to misinterpretation, who knows.

Anyway, feel free to peruse my shop notes:

http://www.rv7blog.com/2007/05/12/drilled-canopy-to-frame/

mcb