Builder's Log
DateAssemblyInstructionPartDescriptionLinks
03/11/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Cut and Shaped Windshield Bow.
Trimmed the lexan windshield to the factroy cut line.

Trimmed fabric for glare shield. Laurie is going to finish the edges before I glue it to the glare shield.

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03/12/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Trimmed and sanded the sides of the windshield. Drilled holes to hold the windshield bow in place. Made blocks to help hold windshield to the bow. Also trimmed the strap on the firewall to allow the windshield to fit down next to the longerons.

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03/13/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Trimmed and sanded the front side of the windshield. Drilled the holes and clecoed in place the front and sides of the windshield.

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03/14/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Made a tool to make the hole locations for the windshield bow.
Inserted the windshield Bow Strap.
Measured the proper distance of over hang for the bow strap.
Marked and drilled to #30 size the holes at the windshield bow.
Marked for cutting the aft edge of the windshield.

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03/16/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Trimmed the aft edge of the windshield with the band saw.
Sanded all four edges of the windshield with 80 120 and 220 grit sand paper.
Drilled the holes in aft side of the windshield up to 11/64th.
Drilled the holes in the bow strap to #20.
Drilled the holes in the windshield Bow to # 29. Tapped the holes in the bow to 8-32.
Countersunk all the holes in the windshield.
Dimpled the holes in the fuselage side skins.
Put the windshield back on the fuselage. Put machine screws in the aft side of the windshield. Cleco the front side to the upper firewall.

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03/18/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Glued fabric to glare shield. Put the windshield back in place. Installed some of the machine screws. Need to wait for aircraft spruce shipment to finish installing the machine screws for the windshield.

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03/19/2015 Canopy D01 D01

The glare shield fabric glue job failed. Removed the windshield. Removed the fabric. Cleaned the glue off the glare shield. Will try again.

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03/20/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Purchased a new can of Super 77 from Lowes. This can had more complete instructions on application. So I did the fabric on the glare shield again. I sprayed both the metal and the fabric. I let it set for around 2 to 3 minutes before I put the two together. I did it in three sections one at a time. First the top then each of the sides. So far it seems to be doing fine. We will see in time if it worked. I also made some of the parts for the canopy from drawing D02.

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03/23/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Made more ot the parts on drawing D02.

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03/24/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Installed the windshield and machine screws to secure it. Again

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05/01/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Layed the canopy on the airframe to check the factory tape lines. They are more than adequate. Started assembling the canopy frame. Riveted the hinge to the side longeron. Made some tabs that the interior side panels will be attached to.

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05/02/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Worked on the Canopy frame. Made the wood formers to hold the aft side of the canopy while being fitted.

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05/04/2015 Canopy D01 D01

With the help of Laurie I used the band saw to start cutting the canopy. We cut to the factory tape lines. I then sanded out the saw marks. Then put on new tape lines and cut the front and aft edges of the canopy. Sanded some more. Kept sanding and fitting the canopy to the fuselage.

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05/05/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Continued Trimming cutting and sanding the canopy to fit the fuselage. Laurie continued to help.

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05/06/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Took some pictures of the brake lines to share on the forum.

Did some more trimming and sanding on the canopy.
Worked on bending and fitting the aft bow for the frame.

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05/07/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Drilled and tapped the hole for the alignment pin on the canopy latch. Installed the alignment pin.
Traced the aft curve on some card board. Finished bending the aft bow.
I had cut the bow a little short so I made a couple of 1/4 in spacers to raise the bow up to the correct height.
Test fitted the canopy with the aft bow.

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05/08/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Bent the front bow to conform to the shape of the wind shield. Secured the side tube to the longeron with clamps. Cut a piece of scrap plexiglass and did a test run of drilling the canopy for the canopy hinge and side tube. It worked great with the supper dull drill bit. So I went ahead and drilled the canopy for the canopy hinge and side tube.

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05/09/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Adjusted the bend in the aft bow to better conform to the turtle deck. Removed the spacers I had placed for the aft bow. Made one smaller spacer for only one side. Made some wood spacers for both the front and aft bows. Sanded and trimmed the canopy a little more on the aft side. Match drilled the side trim to the side tube on the pilot side. Drilled the holes trough the canopy for the pilot side.

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05/11/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Adjusted the bend in the aft bow to better conform to the turtle deck. Drilled the holes through the canopy and into both bows.

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05/12/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Drilled four of the corner holes. Cut the hole for the canopy latch handle. Installed the latch handle. Worked on adjusting the latch to work properly. Still needs some more work.

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05/13/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Worked on canopy frame. Found that the side tube was slightly turned. This is what was causing the latch to bind. Made sure the side tube was flat when I riveted the corners.

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05/14/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Up drilled the holes in the canopy. Drilled the counter sinks. Put the canopy back on the frame using machine screws. Need to order a couple more screws to finish.

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05/23/2015 Canopy D01 D01

Replaced the latch hook assembly. The original one had been trimmed too much and did not tightly hold the canopy. Used files to trim to get a good tight fit.

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