Silent_Flyer
Member
We had single digit temperatures back in February here in Maryland. When we went to the hangar in March, this is what was awaiting.
The crack started from the edge and not a bolt location and when up to nearly 80% of the top of the canopy. Our guess is there is not viable temporary repair while we start on a new canopy install. This canopy was the original since the aircraft first flew in 1991 with a few minor cracks in the aft locations that had been stopped drilled and no issues for the last 3 years of ownership. However this crack is clearly a non-starter.
I have a new Todd's canopy in the mail, but the real question is can I salvage the existing canopy frame and skirts. The canopy is attached by flush screws and 3/8 nuts on the 7/16" tube. I talked to tech support at Vans and they discussed drilling new holes in between existing holes so that alignment would on the new canopy would not have any stress risers, however in the end they said that I should start with a new canopy frame.
Clearly, I need to remove all of the flush rivets from the skirt and will likely have to build new skirts o the existing frame. This would allow me to use the existing frame that is fitted to the airplane and either attach the new canopy with Sikaflex and not drill new holes in the canopy. The other option would be to use the existing mounting tube holes and drill the new canopy, but oversize the holes so there is no chance of having a stress riser with alignment of the flush screw in the new skirt through the plexi to mounting tube.
Anyone that has gone through this headache please weigh in on difficulty and how successful it was to reuse existing frame. I've read quite a bit on Sika so that could be an option with existing frame and just build new skirts.
This puts a bit dent in spring flying and a new unplanned project to stack on top of planned events this spring ;-(
The crack started from the edge and not a bolt location and when up to nearly 80% of the top of the canopy. Our guess is there is not viable temporary repair while we start on a new canopy install. This canopy was the original since the aircraft first flew in 1991 with a few minor cracks in the aft locations that had been stopped drilled and no issues for the last 3 years of ownership. However this crack is clearly a non-starter.
I have a new Todd's canopy in the mail, but the real question is can I salvage the existing canopy frame and skirts. The canopy is attached by flush screws and 3/8 nuts on the 7/16" tube. I talked to tech support at Vans and they discussed drilling new holes in between existing holes so that alignment would on the new canopy would not have any stress risers, however in the end they said that I should start with a new canopy frame.
Clearly, I need to remove all of the flush rivets from the skirt and will likely have to build new skirts o the existing frame. This would allow me to use the existing frame that is fitted to the airplane and either attach the new canopy with Sikaflex and not drill new holes in the canopy. The other option would be to use the existing mounting tube holes and drill the new canopy, but oversize the holes so there is no chance of having a stress riser with alignment of the flush screw in the new skirt through the plexi to mounting tube.
Anyone that has gone through this headache please weigh in on difficulty and how successful it was to reuse existing frame. I've read quite a bit on Sika so that could be an option with existing frame and just build new skirts.
This puts a bit dent in spring flying and a new unplanned project to stack on top of planned events this spring ;-(
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