Last weekend we had our local EAA chapter organized our first annual ?Wings & Wheels? event in Racine, WI. We had a few aircraft fly in, and I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Martin and the equal pleasure of seeing his beautiful RV-8 racing airplane. He pointed out only one problem ? a crack in the canopy about 2? long coming up from the side about halfway down the length.
My question is how many RV8/8A?s are out there with cracked canopies? This number is probably somewhat small with RV-8/8A?s being out there for only about 5 years.
Dick told me to attach it with 4-40 screws tapped into the frame rather than pop rivets. His reasoning that the screws won?t expand into the oversized holes in the canopy, whereas the pop rivets may. Has anybody used screws throughout with success?
I?m starting to consider gluing it on with Sikaflex based on what I?ve been reading on this forum. Are there any long term concerns of the glue degrading over time? I thought I remember reading somewhere that there was someone with a glued canopy for 6 years with no problems. Also, if the canopy is glued to the frame, then is Sikaflex also used to attach the canopy skirt? Should the wind screen be glued, or is the conventional screw method acceptable/desirable?
The goal is to use a method that will last several decades (50 years?) with no issues.
Thanks
My question is how many RV8/8A?s are out there with cracked canopies? This number is probably somewhat small with RV-8/8A?s being out there for only about 5 years.
Dick told me to attach it with 4-40 screws tapped into the frame rather than pop rivets. His reasoning that the screws won?t expand into the oversized holes in the canopy, whereas the pop rivets may. Has anybody used screws throughout with success?
I?m starting to consider gluing it on with Sikaflex based on what I?ve been reading on this forum. Are there any long term concerns of the glue degrading over time? I thought I remember reading somewhere that there was someone with a glued canopy for 6 years with no problems. Also, if the canopy is glued to the frame, then is Sikaflex also used to attach the canopy skirt? Should the wind screen be glued, or is the conventional screw method acceptable/desirable?
The goal is to use a method that will last several decades (50 years?) with no issues.
Thanks