Tip-up Canopy Latch Mechanism

[tx_jayhawk]

I'm fitting the canopy latch mechanism on my 7A fuselage. The interlocking latch "notches" don't seem to interlock well and it seems to be of marginal strength. The instructions state to use a jewels file to file them to fit.

1) I have the baby Nicholson files, but they still seem too big. What are people using as a "jewelers file".

2) For those that have significant time on their RV, have any problems existed with this latch? How well "fitted" do the two interlocking notches need to be to provide a secure connection?

Thanks,
Scott
7A Finishing

 

[Paul Eastham]

1) I have the baby Nicholson files, but they still seem too big. What are people using as a "jewelers file".

Harbor Freight and others sell some small and cheap "needle files" -- they're about 1/8" in diameter. I have seen them for sale in other places as well. These worked well for this task as well as many other small jobs.

I bet you could also use a small rotary cutter in a dremel tool. They sell them in a variety of diameters.

Mine fit pretty well out of the box -- have you tried bolting the whole thing together yet? Once those two outer bars hold everything in one plane, the grip seems pretty strong to me. On top of that, I don't think the notch needs to have extreme strength -- the canopy latch fingers would stay engaged on their own I bet.

Paul

 

[Radomir]

My file set had a file that's triangular in shape, so I used one edge of the triange to file it down a little bit better. PS. cheap file set from Costco

 

[Scott Will]

I spent a Sunday morning with the needle files and the latches... came out pretty good.

The pic is from Garrett's site but it's my plane... I didn't take a pic of my latch but he seemed to like it.

 

[scard]

I just posted a closeup of mine before removing a bit of material where it was hitting the knob and restricting it from closing fully. I certainly had to get after them with a jewlers file as well. Obviously I didn't work on mine quite as much as Scott W. did .

 

[dan]

2) For those that have significant time on their RV, have any problems existed with this latch? How well "fitted" do the two interlocking notches need to be to provide a secure connection?

I feel qualified to answer this at this point. Get 'em as good as you can, and that's good enough. It's not like there's tremendous (any, in fact) force trying to unlatch the tip-up canopy in flight.

The fingers that latch in the rear corners of the canopy are supposed to be filed so the latches go "over center" as they engage. At least that's my interpretation. Given that, the latch on the handle is almost superfluous. But it's obviously a great safety.

I mean, to open the canopy, it's not just a matter of flicking the little latch on the handle unlatched. You actually have to PULL the handle back to get the canopy hold-down latches to go over center again on their way open. At least that's how it is on my canopy, and I consider that feature desirable.

So in answer to how well fitted the interlocking pieces need to be in order for it to be secure...literally, if they latch at all you're gonna be juuuust fine. The photos Scott Will and scard posted are excellent examples imho. But if yours ain't quite so "perdy" but you can't pull the handle when it's latched, good 'nuff.

 

[tx_jayhawk]

Thx Guys

The pics others provided look great. Probably too good, in fact, as I will need to work on mine until they look the same.

Good sanity checks...thanks again.


Scott