I placed the C-704 Splice Plate on one of the aft canopy frame bows and marked through the holes. As drilled per plans, the center hole touches the tooling hole in the bow. I decided to add two rivets on either side to avoid the interference. I marked the holes on the C-613 splice plates and drilled them to #40 for the initial fitting. I fit the canopy side frames to the fuselage and compared the bends to the longerons. The left side fit well but the right side needed a little "coaxing." I fluted one of the bows and could not get it flat to save my life. I ended up clamping it in a vise and twisting. I eventually got it flat. I skipped the fluting on the right side bow and went straight to the vise. Much better. I taped the 7/8" spacers to the aft frame bows and clamped them in place. I measured the gap between the bows and found it to be 3/8". The gap is supposed to be 1/4" so I cut four new spacers at 3/4" and tried again. This gave the correct 1/4" spacing. I am not very happy with the fit of the canopy frame/skin assembly to the front skin. I sent a picture to Joe Tierney and asked if he thought it was salvegable or should I order new parts and start over. I don't want to go any further if I need a new frame and skin. Judging by my poor pictures, he thought it would be ok but suggested that I remove the assembly and put it back in place. It fit pretty well before I drilled so I don't know if it moved or if it is just one of those canopy things that seems to change every time you look at.
