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Anthonys Web Site
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Date: 5-12-2007
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Number of Hours: 10.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: drilled and fitted canopy to frame
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A full day. I finished fitting the canopy to the frame. I drilled through the canopy with the smaller of the two plexi drills. After creating a hole in the plexi, I used a #40 bit to drill into the frame.
I made some mistakes. First, I misaligned the canopy just a bit. The starboard side was not as far forward as the port side, by about 1/4 inch. That is because I forgot that I had duct taped the canopy to the frame on the starboard side, restricting its movement forward. I corrected that.
Next, I drilled the holes through the canopy and frame at the top of the ribs of the frame. The problem with that is that the welds on the inside of the frame prevent a nut from lying flush on the inside. I planned to drill completely through the frame and use a #4 machine screw that will go through the frame, canopy and skirt.
I also positioned the frame too low on the right side, resulting in a hole that is above the canopy frame tube. I posted a pic on vanairforce.net asking for advice from those who had completed their canopy. Mickey Coggins and Wade Lively responded, saying that they were confident that the skirt would cover that area. In any case, I repositioned the canopy as low as I could get it in that area, which moved the hole down about 1/16 to 1/8 inch.
After I figured out my mistake in drilling holes at the top of the ribs, which would have been fine if I did not intend to have the screw go all the way through, I drilled other holes through the canopy and the frame in areas where the canopy frame is smooth.
After drilling through the plexi and one side of the canopy frame, I removed the canopy. I opened the holes in the frame to 1/8 and driled all the way through the frame.
I trimmed the canopy to relieve all the areas where the canopy touched the fuselage, there were only a couple where there was a slight touch. I sanded the edges of the canopy, including the areas where I had relieved the canopy around the ribs.
I enlarged the holes in the canopy to 3/16 with a plexi bit.
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the extra hole in my canopy
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