Canopy track support?

[Freemasm]

Anyone add a canopy track support to the end of the track (inside cabin)?

The track is far stiffer than BH7 at the location in question but the weight of the canopy is supported by the cantilevered track.

What did you guys do? Ideas welcome. Ideas with pix even more welcome.

Thx.

 

[Ironflight]

Yup - there was actually a piece of aluminum tubing and a long screw in the “Canopy Hardware” bag in my F1 kit. I made a large (2” diameter) washer to spread the load on the bulkhead and it came out fairly stiff - better than expected. Picture is probably somewhere in the couple of thousand I have taken on this project….

 

[scsmith]

I've wondered about this a lot. Thinking about a fast-back slider on the RV-8, the install would follow the F1 pretty closely. But why not make the bulkhead come out to fit the slope of the track? I know the track can't go into a pocket, like the RV-8, because of the canopy frame cross tube. But I think you could make a bulkhead that matched the slope of the track and fit on its under side. Then it would just need a notch to allow the track to curve as it does.

 

[Freemasm]

Yup - there was actually a piece of aluminum tubing and a long screw in the “Canopy Hardware” bag in my F1 kit. I made a large (2” diameter) washer to spread the load on the bulkhead and it came out fairly stiff - better than expected. Picture is probably somewhere in the couple of thousand I have taken on this project….

I've wondered about this a lot. Thinking about a fast-back slider on the RV-8, the install would follow the F1 pretty closely. But why not make the bulkhead come out to fit the slope of the track? I know the track can't go into a pocket, like the RV-8, because of the canopy frame cross tube. But I think you could make a bulkhead that matched the slope of the track and fit on its under side. Then it would just need a notch to allow the track to curve as it does.

No such thing that I can find in the erector set canopy kit but will look again.

Canopy frame cross tube? There's a front and rear bow attached by two longitudinal tubes. Nothing across.

The track needs a curve for the follower to be able to slide along it so it can't be flush with the BH. The rear bow to BH clearance is scary tight. You need the (full) lift before significant rearward translation or you've got zero chance. Am I understanding you correctly?


Edit = not familiar with the 8. Pic of “installed” rocket slider frame added.

 

[Ironflight]

Yeah - the standard RV-8 canopy frame is totally different in the back than the Rocket - it has a cross-tube that wouldn’t allow the kind of motion we have with the fastback.

 

[F1 Rocket]

My center track ended up closer to the bulkhead than others but hey……..
It’s worked great for 20 years

 

[Ralph Inkster]

Get a buddy to 3D print a fancy pedestal for it.

 

[Freemasm]

FWIW. Don’t know if it contributes much but the visual no longer lends itself to questions.

 

[scsmith]

My center track ended up closer to the bulkhead than others but hey……..
It’s worked great for 20 years

By "cross tube", I meant the rear bow.
Danny's is close to what I was thinking about. With a notch or pocket for the curved part of the track, one could get the bulkhead even closer to the bottom of the track.

 

[vfrazier]

I took a look through the original F1 canopy manuals. I couldn't find any mention of installing this piece, and the only photos that show it are indirect, grainy, and need to be expanded 10X just to see a shadow of this part. Sigh....