Completed attachment of canopy hold-down handle. Also shimmed forward top skin to better match top cowling. Now have a respectable fit between the cowling and the fuselage. Also adjusted the clearance between the top cowl and the propellor. Reamed out the canopy bushings and cleaned up the frame in preparation for welding this area to allow us to re-drill the canopy pivot holes. Got a professional welder to aluminum fill the current bushing holes. Then cleaned up the welds to the original thickness of the pivot bars. Now ready to redrill the bushing holes. Decided to notch the canopy where it fits down below the rear skin when closed. The idea is to not have any interference between the canopy and the rear skin. Then made two supports to fit behind the rear skin where we just notched the canopy to prevent inadvertent bending of the skin when the canopy is opened. Attached the two supports with pop rivets. (The pix also shows our canopy guides that guide the canopy into place when it is lowered).
