Brief Description: Drilling Lower edge of Canopy Plexiglass
I heated up the garage to 85 degrees over the weekend so I could drill side skirts through the lower edge of the canopy plexiglass. The next step in attaching the side skirts is to drill #30 holes though the canopy lower edges and into the upper flange of the C-759 brace using the pro-drilled holes in C-660 side skirt as a drill guide. You also have to use a piece of wood to bridge vertically from the fuselage side to the canopy frame side bow to the canopy holding everything in alignment while drilling. This is much easier to describe than it was to do. I finally solicited my wife to push on the side skirt and canopy, while I attempted to keep everything aligned while drilling the holes and cleco-ing as I started in the middle and worked my way forward and aft. I decided to drill using a #40 bit, first and when I was done, I enlarged the holes to #30 for the eventual screws through the canopy, bracing and skirts. When I finished drilling the canopy to the correct hole-size, I removed all the skirting and braces, deburred the holes and reinstalled skirt and upper C-759 upper bracing on both sides of the canopy.
