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Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
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Date: 11-9-2008
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Number of Hours: 6.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Canopy Installation - Part 01
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Yahoo! So far so good! I've been working all week on cutting out the canopy and fitting it to the slider frame. What a B*T*H! Van's could have definitely done a little more engineering on this one. Its mostly a trial and error ordeal and its pretty frustrating, that is for sure! Cutting the slider part of the canopy took about six fit-mark-cut iterations. The patience was worth it, though, as it came out PERFECT!
The plans call for riveting the Plexiglass to the tube frame. That seemed like it sucked to me because you are committed to the frame color. I want paint the frame the same color as the inside of the cockpit - currently thinking about a dark slate color. But if the Plexiglass is riveted now, it will be impossible to paint later and make it look good.
So, I used "Rivnuts" instead. These little guys go into a #12 hole with a special tool that forms a pop-rivet like grip on the back side. Then you can use a #6 screw to hold the canopy on and enable removal in the future for complete painting. Sweet, aye?
Over all, I am *very* pleased with the slider and the Plexiglass. Its just about perfect as far as I'm concerned.
The fixed windscreen is another issue. During the overall fitting, I ended up with some abrasion on the top of the windscreen about 2 inches in front of the roll bar. Kind of looks like I used 600 grit sandpaper in a 6" x 1.5" area. (Again, this wouldn't have happened if fitting the canopy wasn't such a fricken' trial-n-error affair...) Anyway, supposedly, there is a 3M refinish kit you can get for Plexiglass to take these kind of scratches out. I guess I give it a try and see if it works. Otherwise, I'm going to have to buy a whole new canopy just for a new windscreen portion - replacement cost is currently $640 + a few hundred for shipping. Seems a shame just to replace that tiny wind screen. Fingers crossed that the refinish kit works good enough. No way I'm living with a scratched windscreen, buy the way.
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Canopy - Raw From Van's
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Canopy - Flange Trimmed
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Canopy - First Trial Fit
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Copyright © 2008-2024 Matt Dralle. All Rights Reserved.
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