Brief Description: Canopy and forward fuselage work.
A good building day with a lot of areas cleaned up. Firstly, the Zodiac 650 forward colwing does not fit the dimensions of the XL panel width and sides. Trimmed off the excess on either side to provide a fit similar to the XL as opposed to the overlapping fit of the 650.
With help from Pierre, fabricated two 1/4 inch thick nylon blocks (decided to remake the ones mentioned previously) to assist the canopy in aligning (as it is lowered) with the rear latching mechanism. The installation worked well with countersunk bolts securing the nylon to the airframe. The nylon blocks where profiled on the belt sander to give a nice smooth curve gradually forcing the canopy into alignment.
The above align was a significant improvement but still meant that the canopy arms impacted the latching mechanism. Killing two birds with one stone, we installed a horizontal brace across the rear canopy hoop which increases the rigidity of the canopy, provides a handle to pull the canopy downwards with (when seated) and ensures that the width of the canopy frame is sufficient to push the canopy arms wide of the latches. When installed the canopy closes without impacting the top of the latch arms.
