Noah
Well Known Member
Working on fitting the tip-up canopy frame. I think my canopy frame is hosed, and I'm considering buying a new one. The project was bought from a previous builder, and I don't think the canopy frame was positioned correctly when the frame was drilled. Reason being that there are huge gaps between the forward canopy decks and the canopy frame - gaps which start at a quarter inch at the front and decrease to zero at the rear (which is just forward of the spar).
This just doesn't look right to me - how the heck would you seal that gap? I would expect this gap to be consistent from fore to aft, not tapered from 0.25 to nothing. If I lift the rear of the frame to get a consistent gap between the fwd canopy deck and the frame (this is just the forward part of the frame, mind you, and does not include the canopy side skins), then a large gap is created between the fuse top skin and the canopy skin - at the hinge joint. So I'm thinking that if I buy a new frame, position everything properly, and match drill the frame using the canopy skin pre-punched holes as guides, life will be hunky-dory again.
The problem is, I can't find in the manual where it says to match drill the canopy frame weldment WD-617 through the existing pre-punched holes in the skin. Seems like right out of the gate they have you clecoing these parts together. So I am confused whether the canopy frame comes from the factory with holes in it or not. If it already has holes in it, then there's no sense in me buying one, and I'm stuck with the crappy fit I've got.
SOOOO, can anybody post a picture of the WD-617 in the as-received condition from Vans, or describe whether there are holes already in it which match all of the holes in the skin? I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but my camera is temporarily inop - will try to post a pic tomorrow.
Thanks in advance.
This just doesn't look right to me - how the heck would you seal that gap? I would expect this gap to be consistent from fore to aft, not tapered from 0.25 to nothing. If I lift the rear of the frame to get a consistent gap between the fwd canopy deck and the frame (this is just the forward part of the frame, mind you, and does not include the canopy side skins), then a large gap is created between the fuse top skin and the canopy skin - at the hinge joint. So I'm thinking that if I buy a new frame, position everything properly, and match drill the frame using the canopy skin pre-punched holes as guides, life will be hunky-dory again.
The problem is, I can't find in the manual where it says to match drill the canopy frame weldment WD-617 through the existing pre-punched holes in the skin. Seems like right out of the gate they have you clecoing these parts together. So I am confused whether the canopy frame comes from the factory with holes in it or not. If it already has holes in it, then there's no sense in me buying one, and I'm stuck with the crappy fit I've got.
SOOOO, can anybody post a picture of the WD-617 in the as-received condition from Vans, or describe whether there are holes already in it which match all of the holes in the skin? I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but my camera is temporarily inop - will try to post a pic tomorrow.
Thanks in advance.
