F1 - When to Drill the Rear Canopy Track?

[Ironflight]

OK Rocket builders, here’s a question for you - I have gone through every version of the build manual on the Rocket site, and they all caution not to drill the rear canopy track to the fuselage before fitting the canopy frame. Makes some sense. There was some moving around and adjusting while bending, cutting, and welding the frame. But now I’m done with all that, and getting ready to move on to the canopy - and can’t find a reference to “Now its OK to drill and bolt the track to the fuselage….” I’m not sure I can think of a reason not to at this point (the geometry is sort of fixed by the custom-fit frame)….but is there some reason I am going to regret drilling it now that I won’t find out until later?

FYI - I used the conduit bender technique on the front bow to get it where I wanted, then cut the rear bow and shaped it using a bending board before welding it back on. I’m pretty pleased at how the frame is moving on the track!

 

[gladiator68]

OK Rocket builders, here’s a question for you - I have gone through every version of the build manual on the Rocket site, and they all caution not to drill the rear canopy track to the fuselage before fitting the canopy frame. Makes some sense. There was some moving around and adjusting while bending, cutting, and welding the frame. But now I’m done with all that, and getting ready to move on to the canopy - and can’t find a reference to “Now its OK to drill and bolt the track to the fuselage….” I’m not sure I can think of a reason not to at this point (the geometry is sort of fixed by the custom-fit frame)….but is there some reason I am going to regret drilling it now that I won’t find out until later?

FYI - I used the conduit bender technique on the front bow to get it where I wanted, then cut the rear bow and shaped it using a bending board before welding it back on. I’m pretty pleased at how the frame is moving on the track!

View attachment 77907

Hi Paul,
I'm in that step with my RV as well. I'm not home, but can you check the Van's instructions for timing? I read it, but can't recall when it calls out to drill the rail.

Looks good! Drill on.

 

[F1 Rocket]

It’s been 20 years (holy cow!) since I assembled the canopy on N14ZM. My set up is a bit different in that I chose to keep the side rails one piece. But basically there’s not much wiggle room on where they end up. The whole canopy fitting process is constantly chasing the alignment. The more things get locked down like (drilling those rails) the easier the rest gets. It looks like you have the front and rear bows fit as close as they’re going to get. So I would lock the rails down at this point. One very important thing to keep aware of is the height of the rear bow when the canopy is fully closed and the latches locked. The latches will cause the rear to get sucked down a bit. Of course, once you start fitting the plexi, it will warp everything out of place once again.

Edit: sorry Paul. Just realized you were referring to the rear track. As I said before, the rear of the canopy gets sucked down when the canopy is latched. It also is pulled forward a bit. You want the rear track to be located such that there is no strain on the plastic guide block when the canopy is latched. It should be pulling on the two lower pins. Not the guide block. Those lower pins will also pull the lower edge of the canopy in towards the fuselage when the latches are pulled tight. This will help seal the aft canopy skirt against the fuselage.

 

[vfrazier]

Drill a couple temporary holes to stake the rail in place until later. Just put them where they won't show, in other words, not next to either end.

Or hot glue it on temporarily. Or whatever it takes to keep you moving.

Final adjustments later.

Planning on seeing this plane at Oshkosh!!