Canopy and Fuse Skin Clearance

[SteveHRV7]

I am working on attaching the forward canopy frame and C-702 canopy skin on my 7a tip up. How much clearance do you have between the 702 skin and the F771 forward fuselage skin? Vans states .020 to .032 but I can't seem to get mine closer than 1/16 of an inch. Looking at photos from Oshkosh it appears that 1/16 gap (or even larger) is pretty common.

Also - is it typical for the 702 skin to sit a bit higher than the forward fuse skin?

 

[apkp777]

I had about 1/32 on the RH and about 1/8th on the left. And yes the canopy skin sits hit at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions. Very common problem. Take your time and try to minimize the gaps as best you can. It's frustrating. I thought mine was perfect then I drilled everything and nothing matched anymore.

 

[Rupester]

1/16" is a teensy bit on the wide side, but I wouldn't get my shorts in a knot over it. I recall Vans calls for less than that (.032 maybe?) but a) many builders have a hard time getting less than 1/16'', and b) the tighter that gap the more the canopy frame skin wants to catch on the fwd fuse skin when it opens. I'd try to get the gap between .032 and .063. Mine's about .040 and I'm happy with it. Wouldn't change it if I could.

 

[sglynn]

canopy frame to skin 702 gap

I also am fitting the skin to the canopy on my 7A and the gap on the outside between the skin and round tube is more like 1/4 inch on one side, 1/8 on the other side. How do you bend it to reduce this gap?

 

[jsharkey]

You don't want it too tight either...

...there has to be enough of a gap to allow the canopy skin to lift up and forward over the top of the fuselage skin.

Jim Sharkey
RV-6

 

[Jim P]

Concure with the previous. If your center width if too tight, the first time you raise the canopy, you may find that the canopy skin catches and you end up with a nice little dent in that skin! Also keep in mind that when you rivet that whole thing together, things may shift a bit and hose your gaps a little.

The 10:00/ 2:00 buldges are also fairly common, depending on how far it extends, you can shim the fuse skin a bit to take care of some of that. If you can't get it even, you can also build up a small fairing with glass just ahead of the canopy skin once done with all the riveting.