Hey everyone,
I have been working on a personal RV-7 with my father for the past two years and am currently a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
While much of our personal RV is completed, I have begun working on Cal Poly's own RV-7A project. Earning elective credit, many students have worked on this project learning the basics of aluminum aircraft construction.
Along with the RV-7A, a group of students, including myself, are working to construct a full-motion simulator to accurately model the RV-7 (or any other aircraft desired). The simulator consists of an RV-7 fuselage mounted to a moving platform. Visual displays will be mounted in the windscreen area and simulated instruments will be installed in the panel, modeling the typical VFR general aviation aircraft. We have strived to keep this project as close to the original as possible, ordering most all of the airframe parts from Van's.
As many of you are aware, many replacement parts from Van's are reasonably priced, while others, like the canopy, are extremely expensive. As this is not a flying aircraft, we are looking for a damaged or broken slider canopy to use, either using it as a mold to create a fiberglass canopy or installing the damaged canopy itself. This of course is dependant on the extent of the damage.
Perhaps someone less fortunate out there who damaged their canopy during construction would be willing to donate it to our project. At least a few of you have expressed having problems with your canopies, and should you have to purchase a new one, our project might be the perfect place to get rid of the old one. I know it probably won't make you feel any better, but at least you will know it went to a better place.
Happy building,
Ryan Malherbe
Flight Simulator Team Member
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
I have been working on a personal RV-7 with my father for the past two years and am currently a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
While much of our personal RV is completed, I have begun working on Cal Poly's own RV-7A project. Earning elective credit, many students have worked on this project learning the basics of aluminum aircraft construction.
Along with the RV-7A, a group of students, including myself, are working to construct a full-motion simulator to accurately model the RV-7 (or any other aircraft desired). The simulator consists of an RV-7 fuselage mounted to a moving platform. Visual displays will be mounted in the windscreen area and simulated instruments will be installed in the panel, modeling the typical VFR general aviation aircraft. We have strived to keep this project as close to the original as possible, ordering most all of the airframe parts from Van's.
As many of you are aware, many replacement parts from Van's are reasonably priced, while others, like the canopy, are extremely expensive. As this is not a flying aircraft, we are looking for a damaged or broken slider canopy to use, either using it as a mold to create a fiberglass canopy or installing the damaged canopy itself. This of course is dependant on the extent of the damage.
Perhaps someone less fortunate out there who damaged their canopy during construction would be willing to donate it to our project. At least a few of you have expressed having problems with your canopies, and should you have to purchase a new one, our project might be the perfect place to get rid of the old one. I know it probably won't make you feel any better, but at least you will know it went to a better place.
Happy building,
Ryan Malherbe
Flight Simulator Team Member
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
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