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Slider Windscreen fit

petehowell said:
Hello,

I have attached my windscreen and have a small gap between the slider and windscreen plexi. Is a thin sanding block with sandpaper on both sides a good way to get the sides to mate? How tight does the plexi to plexi gap need to be with the fairing covering it?


[img=http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5862/windscreen20166eg.th.jpg]
Click to expand...

I have about a 1/16" gap when the canopy is locked closed, but I opted for no fairing. I think it looks pretty slick and with the appropriate weatherstripping between rollbar and canopy frame no water gets into the plane. I've been flying in some pretty good rain with a perfectly dry cabin.

I used a sanding block to make the two pieces mate up - though I guess if you are going to have a fairing you don't need to be too exact.
 
Thanks Kevin

I was thinking last night it would look very cool w/o the fairing, but I have one spot where the plexi on the roll bar is a bit higher than the slider and I think It might not look great. So I think I will hide my shoddy workmanship. :p

Kevin - Thanks so much for your help with the windscreen. It came out pretty dang good.
 
petehowell said:
Hello,

I have attached my windscreen and have a small gap between the slider and windscreen plexi. Is a thin sanding block with sandpaper on both sides a good way to get the sides to mate? How tight does the plexi to plexi gap need to be with the fairing covering it?

[img=http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5862/windscreen20166eg.th.jpg]
Click to expand...

Hey Pete:

A fiberglass roll-bar fairing will cover the eneven edges- just smooth the edges by eye. If you go this route, make sure you add enough glass layers so that any accidental grabbing of the fairing doesn't crack it (ask me how I know!). I tinted my epoxy (and filler) black so it looks better from the inside.

If you haven't planned for handles on the roll bar, you should consider them now. Just make sure that when you mount them, they don't interfere with the canopy closing. Some people weld them on, but I screwed mine on... a hex socket head screw is best here, I think. It's too bad Van's has not standardized on handles and welds them on at the factory before powder coating.

It's interesting that some people don't add a fairing... if the canopy and windscreen match up well, I suppose that this works, but.... I think the fairing strip helps to distribute the air loads over the canopy, preventing cracking at the attachment screws. If the canopy is glued on, this might not be an issue.

You must have a bunch of pictures of your aircraft nearing completion... how about posting a few so we can cheer along?

Vern
 
vlittle said:
It's too bad Van's has not standardized on handles and welds them on at the factory before powder coating.
Click to expand...

I asked the factory about this a couple of years ago. They told me they don't add handles becase they are worried that the occupants' heads might hit the handles in an accident.

Has anybody tried adding carbon fiber to the windshield fairing to make it stiff enough that you don't need the handles?
 
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