Worked on the airplane for a good six hours today. At the end of the day it did not seem like I made much progress, but there was progress. Started by clecoing the canopy skin back on to check for final fit and finish (more on that later.) There was still a small section of the flange for weather stripping that rubbed on the frame. Worked on that will a file. Then reinstalled the emergency release mechanism. I do not plan on installing it permanently but it does provide an easy way of removing the canopy during construction.
Then I started on the aft portion of the canopy frame. Tasks completed were:
1. made the 7/8" and the 1/8" spacers to use during construction. The 7/8" spacers are wood and you can see them between the aft frame and the roll bar in image one.
2. worked on fixing the 631A ribs (aft part of canopy frame.) The flanges were not the correct angle so I adjusted those and then had to flute the rib to get it to lay flat again.
3. fabricated the slice plate that goes between the 631 ribs and drilled one to one of the 631A ribs.
4. clamped the side rails in place to check for fit and finish. This were time stood still.
First the curve of the side rails did not match the fuselage and they were slightly too long to fit. So there was a repetitive process of trimming and adjusting the side rails to fit. I am not completely satisfied.
