Today I tackled the canopy. I started by finishing getting the bend right on the aft canopy bow. Next I put the canopy in place aligning the front as best I could along the back of the windshield. I pulled it tight with tie down straps. I next removed the existing tape (it wasn't right) and marked the cut for the front with masking tape. I figured I'd give the band saw a try like they suggest and had one of my airport friends help me. Way too hard to do it that way .. so I went back to the cutoff wheel for the rest of the cuts. I went slow .. put it on and off a couple times marking it each time. The front cut came out good. I came up with some brackets for the rear of the canopy to sit on to get the right spacing. I made them 1/2 inch deep so I can also butt the rear bow up against them for the proper spacing. I then marked and cut the rear. It came out good .. I made a couple more little corrections. Front and back cuts are done. I started riveting on the right side hinge. I made some "L" shaped brackets to go on the bottom of the longeron that I'll put velcro on to hold on the interior side panel. They'll rivet on with the hinge. My plan is to get the side rails set .. then crawl up inside and set (and drill) the position of the bows by placing them against the inplace canopy. Hopefull that will help me maintain the right spacing on everything.
