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Steven's RV-9A
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Date: 7-22-2017
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Number of Hours: 8.00
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Manual Reference: canopy
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Brief Description: Finished canopy fairing and reopened canpy
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A little bit of anxiety today.
I worked a couple of hours the last two nights but neglected to log in.
Oh well - I finished fiberglassing the windshield fairing - a task I have been dreading. As with all of the Van's tasks. The easy ones are hard. The supposedly hard ones - not too bad.
I finished glassing the canopy. The belt over top arch is supposed to be .08" thick. I did mine with 6 plyd of tape and came out to about .09 - real nice.
Before the final coat, I needed to build up some areas. I have found that one squirt of West and one squirt of hardener and 3 1/2 ts of microballoons make a perfect filler. The filler went in, and I let it set for about 4 hours.
Then I sanded everything to 80 grit and got rid of all the dust. Then a top coat of epoxy followed by the peel ply. I wetted down the peel ply real well and crossed my fingers.
6 hours later (a very hot day), the peel ply came off. That stuff is great. A really nice surface.
Then, the moment of truth - to see If I had glued the canopy shut forever.
I made a special tool, using a 1 1/2" flexible putty knife. I ground it down to about 3/4", eased teh edges and the tip, and gently worked around the canopy between the mold release tape and the canopy fairing. I manipulted the latch, and slowly, after 2 or three passes of the tool and about 20 cycles of the lock, I could see the canopy moving all the way along the seal.
I my daughter to help, and between the two of us, providing even pressure from both sides, the canopy opended easily.
Further, to re-close it, it works better than before I put the fiberglass on!
Really, really, really happy.
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belt across top of canopy
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Front fairing
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Separation tool
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