Brief Description: Winscreen Drilling & Metal Bezel Fab - Part 01
Well, I couldn't put it off any longer; I had to finally start working on the windscreen installation. Anytime I pick up the drill near Plexiglass I always get a sinking feeling. Something's bound to go wrong. But it was time to tackle that windscreen and so last week I started to process. According to the plans, you're suppose to drill holes into the roll bar and use screws to attach the Plexiglass to it. But the bogus part is where there is about two sentences in the manual on how you're suppose to then use fiberglass to build-up a bezel fairing around the top of the windscreen. I just couldn't see how this was going to ever come out very good and in fact I don't think I've ever really seen an RV-8 that had a rear windscreen bezel that I'd write home about.
I decided to try my hand at custom fabricating a .032 metal bezel instead. I started with some thin cardboard which is about the same thickness and bend-ability of the 2024-T3 .032. It took a lot of cutting and taping and cutting and taping, but I finally came out with a pattern that fit pretty nicely. One word of advice here. I used a butt-load of masking tape over the windscreen to protect it while I was working on it. This was in addition to the clear plastic that normally comes on the canopy from Van's. All of those layers add up, though, and I found that my final dimensions where off by a little bit after I finished everything and took all the tape off. When fitting a metal fairing, use a minimal amount of "protection" if you want a nice tight fit.
