A Bit Less Drafty (6A Slider)

[Kuhtenia]

This may be old news to the "original" RV-6 folks, but might be of general interest to others. My RV-6A (slider canopy) has always been a little bit “drafty.” Based on anecdotal conversations and forum discussions, my guess is that the level of draftiness is more or less typical (and I’m too lazy/not interested in adding things like aileron boots, etc. that can help).

For reasons I will not bore you with, I recently added a modest bit of simple “Edge Trim Black Small, Fits Edge 1/16 to 1/8 Inch” rubber welt to the edge of the sheet metal where the top of the fuselage/turtledeck skin ends and gets covered by the backside of the fiberglass slider canopy skirt when the canopy is closed. [IOW more or less on top of the baggage compartment bulkhead.] Attached snips provide a visual.

Turns out this little bit of rubber welt has made a major reduction in the level of draftiness. Who knew?! Apparently, much of the draft was coming in via this top of fuselage/sliding canopy. Still a little bit of draftiness going on, of course, as an RV-6A is not exactly an F-16, but this is right up there with the best $11 spent to-date in my aviation ownership experience.

 

[gordonwhite96]

Nice! I also own a drafty -6 slider, it's only an issue in Texas for a few flights each year.

Did you glue it on, or does it slide on and stay put? I see lots of choices on amazon.

 

[Kuhtenia]

Nice! I also own a drafty -6 slider, it's only an issue in Texas for a few flights each year.

Did you glue it on, or does it slide on and stay put? I see lots of choices on amazon.

It just slides on and sort of grabs to the sheet metal; moving it around a few times does not seem to mess up the grab all that much.

[Note: I originally put the welt over the entire "perimeter" of the turtledeck sheet metal but this made the fit **way** too tight when the canopy was latched.] PM me if you want the exact welt used (don't want to get in the way of Doug's advertising rules).

 

[kaweeka]

I also placed a thin layer of felt, similar to what the Navion uses for it's sliding canopy, under the canopy edge. this made a tremendous difference.

 

[MacCool]

I did the same on on my 9A slider using the loop side of a long strip of self-stick Velcro. Very effective.

 

[FireMedic_2009]

This may be old news to the "original" RV-6 folks, but might be of general interest to others. My RV-6A (slider canopy) has always been a little bit “drafty.” Based on anecdotal conversations and forum discussions, my guess is that the level of draftiness is more or less typical (and I’m too lazy/not interested in adding things like aileron boots, etc. that can help).

For reasons I will not bore you with, I recently added a modest bit of simple “Edge Trim Black Small, Fits Edge 1/16 to 1/8 Inch” rubber welt to the edge of the sheet metal where the top of the fuselage/turtledeck skin ends and gets covered by the backside of the fiberglass slider canopy skirt when the canopy is closed. [IOW more or less on top of the baggage compartment bulkhead.] Attached snips provide a visual.

Turns out this little bit of rubber welt has made a major reduction in the level of draftiness. Who knew?! Apparently, much of the draft was coming in via this top of fuselage/sliding canopy. Still a little bit of draftiness going on, of course, as an RV-6A is not exactly an F-16, but this is right up there with the best $11 spent to-date in my aviation ownership experience.

I don’t see any of the rubber in the pics

 

[rv6n6r]

I like it. Been dealing with drafts for 24 years now in my -6, may give this one a shot.
I will give a nudge for the aileron boots - next annual just bite the bullet and do that. Makes a huge difference up through the stick boots.

 

[Dan 57]

More than the draft it is water from rain drenching my luggage that is annoying... in heavy rain it is pure joy to watch water droplets being sucked in and then spill on my stuff
I've been playing with different household door seals, have some foamy door draft stopper right now, but still hunting for a perfect seal.

 

[Kuhtenia]

<< I also placed a thin layer of felt, similar to what the Navion uses for it's sliding canopy, under the canopy edge >>
<< I did the same on on my 9A slider using the loop side of a long strip of self-stick Velcro >>

For the thin layer of felt idea, how is it attached to the underside of the canopy edge? Same thing for the self-stick Velcro notion; has the self-stick survived over time or have you had to do something better to get it to stay attached?

 

[kaweeka]

<< I also placed a thin layer of felt, similar to what the Navion uses for it's sliding canopy, under the canopy edge >>
<< I did the same on on my 9A slider using the loop side of a long strip of self-stick Velcro >>

For the thin layer of felt idea, how is it attached to the underside of the canopy edge? Same thing for the self-stick Velcro notion; has the self-stick survived over time or have you had to do something better to get it to stay attached?

I attached the felt to the underside of the canopy, making sure I didn't create a "self induced" stand off. It's been on for 7 years and still works great. You can get various thicknesses of felt. I believe mine is 2" wide. You can get various widths and thicknesses through McMaster Carr or Amazon.

 

[MacCool]

The self-stick velcro 3M brand has pretty aggressive adhesive and holds well (install when warm). I placed it on the canopy side after wiping it down with some alcohol. When the canopy closes, the rear edge with the velcro generally settles down vertically minimizing the amount of front/back rubbing so there isn't a lot of force trying to rub the velcro strip off and the stuff on mine has held up fine for two years. The felt idea is good, but I felt that the self-stick concept would be a lot less hassle than trying to glue a strip of something on the underside of an already-installed canopy. Before installing that strip, I did note that aerodynamic forces want to lift the canopy a bit in flight, exacerbating the gap. Sealing it with the velcro strip made a huge difference in winter air swirling in the cockpit.

Disclaimer....my canopy has the Supertraxx extension (which I think is a brilliant aftermarket addition) and I don't know if that makes a difference in the way that rear edge with velcro comes down on the turtledeck compared to the OEM installation.