Work on the canopy continued over the past couple of days. The skirt and bubble were clecoed together and the bubble was marked on the outside at the upper edge of the skirt, and the skirt was marked inside at the lower edge of the bubble. The outside of the bubble was masked 1/16” above the skirt line, and the inside was masked about 5/8” above the lower edge of the bubble. The remaining 5/8” will be masked later.
The wire connectors for the canopy hinge pin release were fabricated and installed.
The canopy assembly was mounted on the fuselage with the hinge pins and locking pins engaged. The lower right side of the skirt was marked at the hinge centerline for trimming, and the lower right side was marked at the bottom of the upper fuselage steel tube.
The canopy skirt was removed and the left and right sides trimmed to the markings. The skirt was reinstalled and the canopy opened to check for interference. The skirt needed further trimming on the right side to allow it to fully open and horseshoe stiffener on the rear of the skirt interfered with the roll bar.
The skirt rear stiffener was marked at the point of interference, then removed. A short piece of 2X4 was clamped to the stiffener to serve as a guide for a three inch holesaw. The resulting cut was clean, and the edge of the cut will be glassed in the next time I mix some epoxy.
The canopy was sanded further on the hinge side, then reinstalled. The clearance for the roll bar worked out well, but additional sanding is still needed on the hinge side of the skirt.
