How to shape slider canopy frame

[tenraii]

Hey Guys. I am getting ready to start on my slider canopy. I have a new frame which has the square tube at the bottom ( Horizontal ) . The passenger side is fairly close to lining up with the fuselage sides .. but the Pilots side is different. It is pretty close starting at the front and going rearward.. but halfway back it goes in and at the far rear it is about 3/4 of an inch in. My question is.. for those of you that have already done it.. how did you reshape it to line up with the sides of the fuselage? I have an idea.. but want to see what you have done. Thanks in advance. Scott

 

[scnovinger]

Hi Scott! Scott here.

Check out Ryan Flys on YouTube.

He just addressed this issue and was able to get a good fit. Watching how he did it may help you!

Good luck.

Scott

 

[rmartingt]

I had a conduit bender plus my 210lb self. Lots of swearing involved; maybe not required but certainly helpful.

I thought the slider canopy frame/roll bar was awful and it took a couple days of brute forcing everything to a workable place, before I said "whew, glad that's over". Then I started working with fiberglass

 

[DeltaRomeo]

I had a conduit bender plus my 210lb self. Lots of swearing involved; maybe not required but certainly helpful.

I thought the slider canopy frame/roll bar was awful and it took a couple days of brute forcing everything to a workable place, before I said "whew, glad that's over". Then I started working with fiberglass

My 17 yr old self recoils in seeing that (spent a few teenage years as an electrician's apprentice).
Great idea, actually.
v/r,dr

 

[larrynew]

After wrestling with the canopy frame, I copied someone’s idea on VAF and built this jig. Worked great.

 

[terrye]

Lots of threads on the slider canopy frame, do a good search. The horizontal square tubes may not be the problem. It could be the rear hoop has distorted during welding and is thus pulling the square tube out of alignment. I had great difficulty with the frame and trying to bend the tubes by hand was a non starter. I finally decided more precision was needed and bought a hydraulic porta power pump and jack. I made a custom shoe for the jack and screwed some bending blocks onto my work table. Gradually bent the front and rear hoops into the shape they needed to be to match the front roll bar and the aft fuselage skin. I was quite happy with the final result and the final canopy assembly and the aluminum skirts. But overall it was the most frustrating operation of the entire plane to date (have not yet done the cowl and fiberglass fairings)
(Edit: similar bending blocks on work table to larrynew table but I used a hydraulic porta power to do the bending)

 

[vlittle]

My 17 yr old self recoils in seeing that (spent a few teenage years as an electrician's apprentice).
Great idea, actually.
v/r,dr

If you commit to painting or powder coating the frame later on, you can use a MAPP torch, plus some bending blocks screwed into your workbench to shape the frame accurately. In my Rocket, the slider frame came in pieces that needed welding together. This allowed for bending and tweaking…. but I had to hire a welder, then a powder coater. Perfect fit.