Slider canopy question - order of "fitting"

[ge9a]

I'm having a difficult time figuring out when and how to adjust the height of my slider frame. The front bow is sitting 13/16" above the roll bar at top/center (7/16" too high per the drawings). It isn't clear to me when to cut the bottom of the bow for height (where the roller assemblies insert). I'm thinking I need to do it now, after I have adjusted the square side tubes to match the fuse (which didn't take much at all, BTW). But I don't want to make this cut prematurely, so I thought I would ask. Am I on the right track?

And I'm really not sure how to adjust the height on the rear bow. Right now the top/center of the rear bow sits 1/32" above the F-7112 aft top skin. The instructions say this bow should sit BELOW the aft top skin by 1/16" to 1/8", and to adjust accordingly so it does.

I've spent a fair amount of time perusing previous threads, but I haven't found anything that really addresses this. Any help/suggestions/words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[rvtach]

Just did this...

Just went throught this and talked to Van's so I'm pretty sure I did it ok. Sart at the front bow. Fit to the curve of the rollover structure and cut down the little nubs that the roller fit into for the height shown on the plans (~3/8").

To adjust the height of the rear bow move the rear slider track fore and aft on the rear fuse skin to get the proper height as the rear of the slider moves up and down that bent over piece. It should be just a little bit below the rear skin so that when you mount the plexi, the plexi sits just a hair above the skin so that the rear skirt will fit coerrectly.

Hope this helps.

Jim RV-7A finishing
N622WR

 

[ge9a]

Thanks, Jim. That helps a lot. Regarding the height adjustment of the rear bow, I tried moving the slider track to adjust the rear height, but when I do that, it also adjusts the front bow so it is no longer parallel with the roll bar when viewed from the side of the plane. Do I need to be concerned with that? I did not need shims under the roll bar to make it perpendicular to the canopy deck before I started to fit the canopy frame.

 

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Thanks, Jim. That helps a lot. Regarding the height adjustment of the rear bow, I tried moving the slider track to adjust the rear height, but when I do that, it also adjusts the front bow so it is no longer parallel with the roll bar when viewed from the side of the plane. Do I need to be concerned with that? I did not need shims under the roll bar to make it perpendicular to the canopy deck before I started to fit the canopy frame.

Greg-
Am just finishing this myself as well.

Yes, you will need to bend the forward bow now to match (parallel) the rollbar. As always, when you change one thing (like the rear bow height), you then have to change (sometimes again) something else. It's not too hard to make the rollbar and fwd canopy bow parallel. Just requires more bending.

Yes, before you get to bending the canopy frame, the instructions (mine did anyway) have you making sure that the roll bar is perpendicular to the canopy decks and install shims as needed to make it so.

Also remember that until you cut down the bottom of the fwd canopy bow tubes, you don't know how much bending is required to get them to be parallel. Van's plans indicate doing that cutting later, but cutting them early to get the vertical alignment with the roll bar sure made the rest of the canopy alignment seem to fall together.

Stick with it... all the bending seems to get easier the more you work with it. Hope this helps.

 

[ge9a]

Thanks, Steve. That's exactly what I needed to know. I thought now was the time to cut the front bow "legs", but I wanted to be sure. As I've learned, it's much easier, less frustrating and less expensive to ask first, then proceed accordingly.

Measure twice (or 4 or 5 times for me, just to be sure), then search on the form (or ask), then remeasure and cut once!

Thanks again.