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Jims RV-8
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Date: 2-18-2018
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Number of Hours: 4.50
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Canopy removal mod
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I decided to do the mod to allow the canopy to be removed for maintenance without having to remove the empennage fairing. The canopy rail is long enough that to slide the canopy all the way off the back (to remove it), it would hit the empennage fairing first. So, A small notch is cut in the canopy slide rail (just the canopy cap, not the canopy spacer) that will allow the canopy to lift off the rail before it gets all the way to the back - before it contacts the emp. fairing. The canopy in the RV-8 is notorious for having a draft in the aft portion so it is likely that the canopy will be coming off allot at least after initial flight testing. Jay Pratt has a slightly different mod where he cuts the slide assembly a little shorter so that it comes off before hitting the emp. fairing.
I first saw this mod on Brent Owens kitlog site, Brent built a beautiful RV-8 named, "Contrary Mary" with a military P-51 paint job. I ran into Brent and "Mary" at Oshkosh, while Brent was trying to diagnose a dead battery as he was getting ready to depart. I helped him take off the cowling, but he was pretty preoccupied with the battery situation, so I let him be.
The mod is completed by cutting a notch in the cap only, and instead of a screw-washer-nut attachment, a nutplate is riveted to the underside of the skin and the screw holds the small cap notch, I went ahead and finished the last few rivets on the slide as well, since I was holding off doing that until I decided if I was doing Jay's or Brent's mod.
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pretty much done at this point - nutplate riveted, cap cut
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finished the aft end also - this is the before view
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Finished mod, re-installed canopy rail
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