Prepping the Skirt

I got home early on Friday and immediately went to work at the canopy. I had lots of masking to do! At first I put the two missing panels in, as to stabilize the whole instrument deck area. I don't think it was necessary but I wanted to make sure that the fiberglass would follow the line exactly and not create a gap or some interference when I put the instrument panels in later.


However, I forgot to take a photo before I covered everything up with plastic to avoid messing up the interior with drops of epoxy.
Then I masked everything on the outside. Canopy decks, side skins, top skin and also the areas behind the front of the canopy frame. I don't like the idea of using paper for masking when it comes to epoxy as that stuff easily penetrates paper and loves sticking to whatever is underneath, That's why I used thin plastic trash bags.



During that whole endeavor I was cautiously eyed by a professional pilot who happened to have a nest in der corner under the patio where he's raising the next generation of aviators. I hope he didn't see anything incorrect I was doing.


I fitted the foam blocks on the canopy arms and just like Dave, I found the first step pretty easy to do with the bandsaw.


And, just like Dave, I found the aft part of the block to need some adjustment for fitting in.


It's quite easy to mark the two spots on the bottom and on the top of the foam blocks and connecting them with a line does the job. The bandsaw took care of the rest.


Now it fit and quite nicely so. I later found that I might have a bit too little material in the front part and so I might just epoxy a thin strip of foam on there. It's not structural, so that wouldn't be a problem.


I will try to get everything ready for the layup in the morning when I epoxy the block on. Shaping them shouldn't take too long and that's also true for scuffing up the aluminum and plexiglass. I'll try to get it done on Saturday as Sunday has some windy weather forecast which might just be annoying when dealing with thin sheets of glass cloth.

SkyView on the Horizon

No work has been done on the plane over the weekend. The reason for this is twofold. On Saturday, my friend Denny wanted to come by with his flying -12 from Deer Valley to take a look at my project. To avoid embarrassment about a really messy workshop, I cleaned up a bit and made everything look a little bit more professional as a lot of clutter had collected over the last few weeks. However, the weather did not agree and strong winds and gusts were moving in a day early and canceled Denny's flight - leaving me with a clean workshop.
I couldn't really use this opportunity though as all I had to do was happening outside the shop and would have also required to tip up the canopy which I refused to do during these heavy winds rolling though the backyard.
The following day was characterized by a severe temperature drop (last night was close to freezing) and I couldn't convince myself to even leave the cozy warmth of the house for more than just a minute or two at a time.

There's one big improvement though. I contacted Van's after waiting for additional information about my SkyView order. Initially they had emailed me that they'd tell me more about my order status within 2-3 weeks and by now I was waiting for 6 weeks without a notice and so I thought it was time to show some initiative.
Barb and Diane from Van's were very helpful and I am supposed to among the next 10 orders to get shipped out. They mailed me my balance (I hadn't paid in full when ordering as I wasn't sure how many months they'd be sitting on my money) and I'll send them the rest this week so remove any financial obstacles that could prevent them from filling that order.
Hopefully I'll see my SV package in the weeks and even more so I am hoping that there are no wiring harnesses on backorder. As a matter of fact, I could live without the SV display and other hardware for a while if I only get all the wiring done for now. THIS is the real reason why I was and am held up.
Once the rest of the wiring went in, I can put the bird on its feet and continue with all the other tasks that I held off until I don't have to turn the fuselage on its side anymore.
Let's cross fingers, that the SV package get here by the end of March (of THIS year)!

Crossing The Line

This post describes the little bit of work done over two days, just in case you notice some odd lighting or such in the photos.

On my way back from the paying job, I picked up some more cans of primer from the National Aerospace Parts Association or short NAPA. So when I got home I scrubbed the modified angles that will help lifting the canopy out of its closed position. After some sun drying I applied two coats of primer (on the back only, where it touches the bare metal of the skirts) and let them sit to dry out.
Then I could finally rivet them on and finish the skirt riveting by doing so.


I also had received a package from Van's that contained those desperately needed parts. Well, the desperately needed part I should because only one part in the package was dearly needed. More about that a bit later.

Some additional parts that I will later for finishing my SkyView panel I had ordered with this shipment as I thought I might be able to bridge some more days with this work while still waiting for my SV. Bill Hollifield had filled me in on those needed parts.
I heard that Van's had changed the design of the map box cover which would be a heck of a lot easier to install. I read how much trouble others had and so I chose to get that cover, along with a new right side panel that goes with it. The new right panel also has no cut out for the ELT and the Intercom. I might put them back in as I'd like to have my PCAS in the left panel where the SV now has the ELT and Intercom. It might be easier to track it in that spot right above the SV screen.

Here are the parts you need for the new style map box cover.


If you don't want to zoom in, The right panel is F-00035 and the cover is F-00021. The manual update you can see, is 29A. You still need the rest of the map box parts that you have put aside when receiving your kit.

So the following day I took a closer look at the other parts I had received from Van's. Among them I was hoping to find the desperately needed guide block part that mysteriously couldn't be located by its name C-1212. Neither in the web store nor in my work shop. Well, the mystery finally got resolved.


The part in the top was what I had ordered, a C-1207, in the assumption that this must have been it what was missing from the Canopy parts bag. Well, as you can see this is a part I had just installed a few posts back and this was certainly not what I was missing. So I started digging a bit deeper into that bag and into two items cryptically described as PS UHMW-750X1/2X2 and PS UHMW-150X1/2X2.
To cut this short, the part called 750 is in the photo on the left side and the 150's are the two thin parts in the middle and on the right. Problem is, that I needed TWO of the 750 part and only ONE of the 150. The manual did nowhere note that the mysterious part C-1212 is supposed to be manufactured from the PS UHMW-750X1/2X2 raw material. That's why I wasn't able to find a hint of it.
Result is that I put another order in for TWO PS UHMW-750X1/2X2 (just in case i mess one up, as I have been known to do such things) but there is no way they could arrive here before the weekend and I certainly wasn't going to pay for overnight shipping for two parts that cost $3.10 each (still, $3.10 for 2 inches of plastic?).
I guess, I'll just have to work around it until it gets here next week.

So, on I went to install the latch handle assembly. First a shot of the cured and partially cleaned up filler that is supposed to keep water out of the cockpit.


Finally I could install the upper part of the latch handle and continue installing the rest of the assembly. I was precisely following Van's measurements on these parts. And I also followed precisely that somewhat convoluted description of installing the latch block in step 2 on page 34-10. It worked out perfectly and so maybe it's worth breaking it up in so many steps.


I didn't have to do any trimming or fine adjustment, everything turned out just as Van's wanted it. I continued with the next step which I still don't fully understand what it's for... Installing that little plastic support at the back of that metal hook just doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. Anyway, I put the raw piece in place and match-drilled it as I was asked to do and then shaped it to match the shape of the metal hook.


To give it a little bit of meaning I made sure that it was extending just a tad above the level of the hook so to not scrape the paint off the latch handle when it locks the canopy.


And in closed position.


With all this done I just jumped across the line of 800 hours worked on the plane. When I had ordered the first subkit and estimating how long it would take me, I thought that I should be done by now. I guess the decision to prime easily cost me 250 - 300 hours. Not that I would be much farther to First Flight, as I had just likely waited longer for SkyView, but at least I could have done something else with that time :-).

Canopy Installed

So after a not very eventful evening shift, I got up quite early and went back to where I had left of the day before. Finishing the screws on the skirts of the canopy.


The first half is easy to get at on each side but then you'll have to tip the canopy open to get to the rest of them.


On both sides I didn't rivet the handles onto the skirts yet. The reason is that I am out of spray can primer and as these are mounted outside and could get exposed to rain, I definitely want to put a coat of primer on the backside of these handles that face the skirts' surface.
Then I ran into a problem that needed time to fix. When installing the latch handle I saw that the eccentric hole created such a large gap on one side that I didn't want to leave it like this.


The solution came in form of a tube of Dynaflex 230 (clear) which is an indoor/outdoor sealant. I tried it on a piece of scrap plexiglass and it doesn't seem to affect it at all.


So I applied it into the gap and smoothened it out before letting it sit. Unfortunately, it takes about 24h to fully cure and I did want to clean up before installing the handle.


This stuff will stay flexible when cured, so I am not worried that it could separate or keep the canopy from expanding in heat. The handle installation will have to wait until this stuff is all cured, That's when it will lose its white color and turn clear. Cool stuff.
Looking ahead in the manual I found the next road block. I either lost a part from the bags or never inventoried it. Either way, I do have only one guide block. This part is referred to in the manual as C-1212 which must be a mistake as there is no such part in the whole kit. The only bag that contains canopy parts lists a C-1207 as guide block and there should be two but I can find only one. I ordered this part and I had to gasp when I saw the price. This 2"x.5"x.75" piece of plastic goes for $7.40 - plus shipping. Wow! What kind of a hitech polymer is this??
Anyway, I ordered it along with the parts for the fuel tank service bulletin although I am still not sure if I will install those brackets.


Look at step 1 in the upper left corner. It clearly says C-1212 and does so repeatedly throughout the instructions. Change it to C-1207 and you'll be able to find the part in the bags.

Screwing Around

I put the canopy back on the frame with the help of my wife and clecoed all the holes to align the holes in the canopy with the match-drilled counterparts in the frame.


The it was time to start inserting screws on the rear bow,replacing the clecoes I had just put in for realignment. The major challenge here was to determine how to allow a second hand access to the interior part of the canopy while the other hand would turn the screw. This is what I came up with.


The key in this job is to not really tighten the screws but to let them just gently hold the canopy down while the nut is supposed to have just enough torque to keep the screw from turning by itself.


The next step was to rivet the skirts to the frame. You all know how much I enjoy the riveting part, so this was done in just 15 minutes.


The upper rows in the skirts will also get filled with screws and I ran out of time before I had to get ready to go to the paying job for another evening shift.
So, tomorrow the plan is to add those screws, as well as to rivet the AACQ rivets into the front bow. Then follows some cleanup work, installing the canopy latch handle and the guide blocks before it would be time to do the fiberglass work on the front bow. I'm not sure if the temps are already good enough for that as it has significantly cooled down here.
I just wish I could work on the Avionics and finish up that job, so I could put her on the landing gear!

Needful Things

I got to work on the canopy a bit more today as I am transitioning to some evening shifts that are coming up tonight and tomorrow. Little things that are needful to the canopy handling, hence the title.
I began with cutting off the two handles that will help lift the canopy out of its closed position. These are cut from a piece of 3/4" x 3/4" angle and then cut some more.


One hole in them gets pre-drilled by measurement only, the other then gets match-drilled. I don't think these handles' dimensions will be at all critical.


The only thing you should remember, is to make a LEFT and a RIGHT one and not two left ones if you follow the sample dimensions twice. I guess that's why there is enough angle to make another handle, in case you didn't think.


Then I went back to the canopy lock lever and trimmed it a bit more. My first attempt was by using the Scotchbrite wheels only.


That created a lot of heat but not enough abrasion to really do a lot to it. So I got out the vixen file, clamped the handle in a vise and removed a lot of material on the sides before going back to the SB wheels to smoothen out the job. I removed so much material that I also had to redo the countersink part for the flat screw.

Canopy Sides Match-Drilled

Today was a warm and sunny day in Tucson. My sister-in-law was able to make it for our little helper session and everything went smoothly. We started with a briefing about what we wanted to do.


Then we got our 100-pound helper into the plane.


Quickly rearranging the seat cushion and we were good to go.


But wait, somebody is excited! And look at all that head room!


Then I looked my helper in by putting all the clecos back in.


The skirts had to be put back on as they are the drill template for the canopy.


Finally the drilling could start. After my previous crack experience I didn't want to take any chance and used the hand-drill with a new 1/8" plexiglass drill bit, Avery doesn't sell #30 in plexiglass version.


The last hole between the role bar and the canopy frame needed a very slim piece of wood. This one here just fit.


Then Flor, the helper, had to change sides and move over to the passenger side.


And the same procedure repeated on the right side, drill, cleco, drill...



And that was that. While I was freeing our helper by removing all these clecos again, she sat there, and enjoyed the task she had accomplished.


After removing the canopy and finally freeing Flor, the girls went for an extensive chat while I continued the work on the canopy. All the holes had to get opened up to #27. Carefully, as this is where it is likely to crack. I also countersunk the holes in the front bow part of the canopy.



Then I worked on the little plastic blocks that support the canopy frame sideways. They had to get countersunk and I also had to cut of a little edge where it interfered with the roll bar.



Time to cleanup the canopy area and see if the gas struts are still working.


And finally I match-drilled and riveted the little metal tongues that insert into the plastic blocks I just had installed. With those tongues in place, the canopy really sits tightly.


And, no, I did not rivet that black hair in. It was just superficial although it looks like it got caught under the rivet head in the picture. I checked it after seeing it in the pic...
Can you already smell the resin? I can!