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Dave's RV-7A Builder's Log
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Date: 8-22-2016
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Number of Hours: 7.50
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Canopy adjustment and fitting skirts
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With the canopy riveted to the frame, I turned my attention to trying to get the rollers to actually roll. I'm pretty sure I didn't get the frame pulled quite tight enough before I drilled the canopy, but it's way too late to do anything about that now as pulling the frame tighter will almost certainly crack it at a hole. In my defense, there are multiple forces working on/against the frame of a slider canopy. For starters, the frame is fitted long before the skirts are added, and even before the acrylic is drilled. Although the builder's manual and blogs all warn that the canopy will tend to pull the frame outwards, it's hard to know how much. Make one change to some part and the entire thing shifts everywhere else. It's taking a lot of time, but I'm determined to get it as close to perfect as I can.
I pulled the wheels and beveled the edges, but after reinstalling, it didn't make a lot of difference. The canopy opens and closes ok, but it tends to slide rather than roll...still needs work. On to something else. I might have mentioned previously that I was going to remake the side skirts, so the new skirts got dimpled and then the original brace riveted back on after priming. Then I set about remaking the rear skirts.
The original rear skirts were probably done too early in the process, but who knew? The "best" sequence for building a sliding canopy is subjective at best, so you kind of have to make it up as you go. Hopefully there will be only a little shaping required, and I can move on to finishing the electrical up.
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Initial fitting with lots of excess aluminum
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Trimmed closer to final size
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This is the gap to close, no shaping completed yet
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