We worked only on the right side of canopy today. We cut the canopy skirt brace to length, cut lightening holes in it, and put slots in the lower edge to make it flexible. Then I climbed in the plane and drilled it to the side canopy bow. See Image #1.
We put a gentle bow in both the outer and inner canopy skirt. We were worried that I might have cut on the line instead of below the line when I cut the canopy 1/4" above the bow. Therefore, I drilled the canopy first making sure of edge distance and then back drilled the outer skirt using a #40 drill. See Image #2 which shows the outer skirt in place.
This means that we will now have to drill the inner skirt as a separate step. It was so hot in the plane today that I don't think we had to worry about cracking the canopy but I DID. We have now been working on the canopy for 3 1/2 weeks and the whole project for 1100 hours and 13 months.
