Ok, I have about 15 hours invested into getting this canopy frame to fit and it is a real pain in the neck. I do seem to be making progress but I wonder if I am being too picky and how close is close enough before I cut the plexi?
The first issue I have is the instructions. Van says a few contradictory things in the instructions.... He talks about the plexi pulling the skirts out up to 1/2" after drilling and this "being compensated for later" But page 10 (before drilling the plexi to the frame) "Do not try to reshape the frame after drilling to the plexi. It will break at one of the attach holes" Then on the bottom of page 11 he is talking about adjusting the frame after drilling. i.e. remove the plexi and adjust. What the heck, he just said not to do this didn't he?
Another problem I have is that the side bows can be adjusted to give the 1/16 clearance he wants in most places but in other places there is more than 1/16 I figure that is better than less than 1/16 and can be accommodated during fitting of the side fairings. It seems to be a compromise between issues of having the track rollers in the right place and accepting some leeway in the side bows. Does this seem reasonable?
Also it seems apparent that the rear bows cannot be made to fit the rear of the fuselage skins down low near the side bows as the shape of the weld totally precludes any sort of fit in this area. So it would seem a spacer may be required or the rear skirts/fibreglass lay up will need to account for this.
I seem to have only minimal clearance between the sides of the fuselage aft skin and the aft corners of the canopy weldment as it is rolled back. This seems to imply that the side bows are tucked in too far or too low. I have seen one builder that has removed material from the sides of the fuselage skins in this area is this normal?
For those of you that have done this before, could you please tell me how close is enough? I figure that it is important to have at least 1/16 between the side bows and the longerons. More can be accommodated easily in the fitting of the sides.
The first issue I have is the instructions. Van says a few contradictory things in the instructions.... He talks about the plexi pulling the skirts out up to 1/2" after drilling and this "being compensated for later" But page 10 (before drilling the plexi to the frame) "Do not try to reshape the frame after drilling to the plexi. It will break at one of the attach holes" Then on the bottom of page 11 he is talking about adjusting the frame after drilling. i.e. remove the plexi and adjust. What the heck, he just said not to do this didn't he?
Another problem I have is that the side bows can be adjusted to give the 1/16 clearance he wants in most places but in other places there is more than 1/16 I figure that is better than less than 1/16 and can be accommodated during fitting of the side fairings. It seems to be a compromise between issues of having the track rollers in the right place and accepting some leeway in the side bows. Does this seem reasonable?
Also it seems apparent that the rear bows cannot be made to fit the rear of the fuselage skins down low near the side bows as the shape of the weld totally precludes any sort of fit in this area. So it would seem a spacer may be required or the rear skirts/fibreglass lay up will need to account for this.
I seem to have only minimal clearance between the sides of the fuselage aft skin and the aft corners of the canopy weldment as it is rolled back. This seems to imply that the side bows are tucked in too far or too low. I have seen one builder that has removed material from the sides of the fuselage skins in this area is this normal?
For those of you that have done this before, could you please tell me how close is enough? I figure that it is important to have at least 1/16 between the side bows and the longerons. More can be accommodated easily in the fitting of the sides.
