Brief Description: Finished Bending the Canopy Frame
Doug and I finished bending the canopy side bows. By continuing the same method used the day before, we were able to get the bows to fall inside the fuselage skin sides as required. The aft bow had to be raised in the center and so we drilled and clamped 2x4's to the bench. We placed the frame in this bench jig and used clamps to bend the frame. We found that, if the frame was not immoveable except for the area to be bent, any bend would transfer itself to another opposite area of the frame. Using the jig, almost all of the bending was completed. The aft corners of the frame still needed to be pulled in an additional 1/8'', so the frame was placed in the vise and we manhandled the frame. Again, because the frame was not immobilized, the forward right corner had an angle put into it. I was able to take out this angle by standing on the opposite aft corner and pressing down on the right front corner.
The canopy was finally bent into its proper shape!
