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Canopy Frame Help

M

MarkC

Active Member
Hi all,

I just finished drilling the "goose-necks" on the canopy frame of my RV7 (tip-up). I followed the instructions to the letter (assuming that is really possible) but the frame won't open as it should with the skin on. It looks as though the canopy frame skin is catching on the front sub panel skin. :confused:

Has anyone else run in to this? Any ideas of fixes?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Mark (234C res)
http://websites.expercraft.com/markc/
 
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Hopefully you haven't riveted everything together. It is always a good idea to clecoe things as much as possible and test before riveting. I had a problem with the skins catching when I built my tipup, too. I resolved it by removing just a little of the skin LE on the canopy frame to increase the gap to about 1/32", beveling the TE of the front subpanel skin, and adding a little shim material under the skin along the front of the canopy.

A sanding block with a good sheet of emery cloth will work well to remove and bevel. Here a a shot showing how far I went before riveting that area.

Use those clecoes to hold and test everything before riveting. Removing clecoes is a lot easier than drilling out rivets.

Roberta

canopy35xb.jpg
 
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Canopy Help

Thanks for the information Roberta. I haven't riveted the skins to the frame yet, but the frame is riveted together per the instructions.

I'll try filing some of the skin away tomorrow. Hopefully that will fix the issue. I also notice that the bottoms of the skins in your picture sit on the front deck, mine overlap it so it looks like I may have that wrong too??

I'll have to rethink it, the instructions at this point are more or less useless, or maybe I just have an issue with reading them :)

Thanks again,

Mark
 
Mark:

I'm working on my canopy at this very moment...and am not having too much luck with it. Yes, the canopy frame skin should rest on the forward canopy decks (not like you can ascertain that from the instructions/plans :rolleyes: ). Some people have modified the entire canopy to have overlapping skins but per the plans all the skins rest on top of the decks.

I ended up ordering another canopy frame which has now taken on the distinction of being the most expensive part I screwed up. My problem was drilling the 'goodnecks'. I followed the plans to the 'T' -- taped everything down, started a hole w/ a 1/4 drill...removed it, drilled all the way through the hinge, drilled out to 3/8...inserted the bushings...reinstalled and NOTHING lined up. It was horrible. The right side was about 1/8 too far back and the left side was about 3/8 too far up!! Weird.

I was not using the greatest of drill bits and the best I can figure is the bits drifted a little as I was drilling them out. I figured that I could have salvaged the canopy frame skeleton (F-716) by cutting off the goosnecks, fabricating new ones then welding them back on...but that would require a lot of time and money (for new stock). Decided to just buy the new one instead and know that it was done right. And oh yeah...I have a GOOD 1/4 split-tip bit and 3/8 reamer on the way as well. ;-)

What does this all have to do with your problem? Hmm....I dunno...but I had to rant somewhere! :eek:
 
Thanks for all the suggestions folks!

So, I think I can figure out the skin thing, now I have to figure out if I can figure out how to get the skin sat on top of the longerons instead of overlapping it. That will be interesting I'm sure as I lined everything up with them overlapping.

Anyone done this before? How did you fix it?

Thanks,

Mark
 
Hi Mark,

Don't worry, everybody has this problem, even Dan C ;) . In my opinion the canopy skin does NOT overlap the front deck but lies on the bulkhead and should align with the front deck as nicely as possible. Just make sure the front deck lies as tightly against the bulkhead as possible and sand bit by bit material from the UNDERside of the edge of the canopy skin and from the UPPERside of the edge of the front deck. This way you can improve the clearance needed for opening the canopy without making the gap too large. I made a first fit but I'll wait until the front deck is rivetted on (that means AFTER installing all electrics and avionics) for the final tuning because all parts will shift a little until this skin fixates it all. Furthermore one word of warning: if you have clecoes in the front deck edge be very careful when the canopy opens: if the edge runs into a cleco it will dent your edge! How I know this? See: http://websites.expercraft.com/PHVII/index.php?q=log_entry&log_id=1914 :eek:
 
Hi Folks,

Just a quick update: I filed the bevels and it worked great. It also sits on top of the deck now too (drilled out the rivets in the joiner plate, repositioned and re-riveted).

Thanks everyone for your help.

Stay tuned for Plexiglas issues/questions :eek:

Mark
 
Uhmw

Another caution regarding the Tip Up.

During fabrication of the canopy frame I applied UHMW tape under the front skin of the canopy to help it slide over the foredeck when opening it.
That, plus a lot of luck, allowed it opened smoothly without catching.

I was then told that I should remove the UHMW tape as it was only required for assembly.

As soon as I did that the canopy skin caught on the foredeck skin.

The tape has since been reapplied.
From that I learnt that when you first fit and close the canopy it pays to have someone sit in the cockpit so if it cannot be opened without catching, they can release the pins and you can ease the canopy aft as you lift it.
Being on the outside on that occasion, I managed to slide six shims under the canopy skin to ease it over the foredeck.

Pete.
 
gas struts

When you attach the gas struts, the frame may be pushed forward even more and you may need to tweek with it again.

Roy Samuelson
 
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