With the canopy shroud assembled and awaiting final riveting and then fitment I decided to return to the hinge points and blocks and subsequent jettison release mechanism so that the shroud can be properly fitted before being final riveted. I also needed to make a decision about the modification needed on the two ribs holding the panel face in place, they had to be trimmed even more but now would become very suspect as sound structures so a modification was required to allow them to be stiff and sound still and thereby safely keep and hole the panel face in place. To do this I needed to know the stiffnes of the panel once all the panel structures were in place and assembled and so I returned to working on the map box so that it could be fitted and a final decision made on the ribs and if any further reinforcing would be required on the panel to deck assembly.
The map box work detail is as before, but I have decided to remove the horrible 'flap over flap' back end and put in a straight and stiff false back. To do this I cut the box parts A and B at the back - basically cut off the 'flaps' and then flattened with the flange pliers to get a true edge and then trimmed and deburred these edges. The box was then assembled and necessary trimming marked out on the parts and then trimmed. eventually I got a nice square box with a square end, to which I am going to install angle material which will attach to a flat end piece. A much neater and stronger, and squarer end which allows a much better fit in the exact space given on the panel. To this end I fabricated four angles and cut a back end from a thickish stock of .032.
I also gathered and found - after a bit of hunting- the various parts that make up the jettison mechanism. I am still of the very strong opinion that this mechanism is completely redundant and useless and the I feel the effort to manufacture it and fit it in regard to the surrounding structures is wasted, especially in light of our modified panel assembly, some very careful thought is going to be
