Well, I've finally started on the canopy installation. So far so good. The opening system definitely seems better than that of the RV-4. The RV-4's canopy was one single piece that opened to the right on long hinge in a clam-shell fashion. It works okay, but is kind of flimsy and I've heard can be a problem in the wind. On the RV-8, the front part is separate and forms a solid windshield which is fixed. The rear part slides back ala P-51 Mustang and looks pretty cool. Its certainly more substantial and the coolness factor of the slider is pretty high. You can taxi out with your arms hanging over the sides of the cockpit for extra coolness points. Since the RV-8 goes so fast in the air - I'm hoping for a cruse near 222 MPH - you can't fly it with the canopy open. It would be kind of windy at that speed anyway.
Tonight's project was to build the rear tee-rail that forms the rear slider portion of the canopy's three point mechanism. There is a piece of nylon that slides along the tee rail at the rear point of the canopy (there are two rollers in the front). When you first push the canopy open - maybe the first 2" or so - the back of the canopy pops "up" giving more clearance in the rear. This forms a nice tight seal around the canopy when its closed. Its a simple but very effective system. Time will tell how well it works in practice, but I haven't really heard people complaining about it, so it must work alright.
