Started cutting the canopy!

Post by **bullojm1** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 10:53 am

Today was the day to start trimming the canopy! Got all sides trimmed...

...and popped the sucka up on the fuselage.

I really don't see what the big deal is about the canopy. So far, its been one of the easier things to work on with the project.

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:28 am

Easier... aside from the distractions!

Nice job! Sit back and enjoy a milkshake!

CJ

weezbad · Post by **weezbad** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 1:00 pm

canopy was the most fun on the whole kit for me. i liked it so much i did one for a friend.

jim_geo · Post by **jim_geo** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 1:59 pm

It really isn't a big deal do the canopy. It's only one of, if not the, most fragile parts to work with but there are many more things more difficult to do. For me it became an issue of working some off the sides then a little off the front and so on and so on, each time putting it back on and checking the fit then removing it again. It just takes time and care. The challenge for me was to get the canopy to kiss the frame in order not to over strain the plexi ever. I can see from your pictures you have a ways to go. Wicked Stick at one point showed us Spray Lat from Spruce. It's a great product and if you use it will help out with making the canopy an overall good experience. That sheet plastic on the canopy is a real drag to deal with.

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 4:04 pm

Lookin' good Mike!!

I'm watchin' close as I'll be doing mine within a few weeks!

Post by **bullojm1** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 10:46 pm

Lots of progress today. I have more or less the front trimmed to its final shape. I need to sleep on it, and then onto ~~THE BIG CUT~~!

dons · Post by **dons** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:18 pm

Nice work Mike.

JohnR · Post by **JohnR** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:24 pm

Looking good Mike. Keep the photos coming, they help those of us who are following along behind.

Post by **bullojm1** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:36 pm

Today I found no excuse not to make the big cut. Man, I am glad this is behind me. One less "boogeyman" to worry about. The canopy still needs a TON of trimming, but this was a big step nonetheless. It is much less awkward to handle the canopy now it is in two smaller manageable pieces.

Time for a beer!

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:18 pm

BIG congrats Mike! I tipped a 'Chuck to ya!

dynamicjohn · Post by **dynamicjohn** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:38 pm

I would tip a Guiness to ya as well but don't have any

But how about a local brew. Keep it going, will be flying in no time

BSwayze · Post by **BSwayze** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:41 am

Mike,

Way to go! That canopy looks GORGEOUS so far. Glad the BIG CUT went okay. I'm sure that's a big moment to be proud of. Keep the pics coming, please.

Bruce

Post by **bullojm1** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:09 pm

BSwayze wrote:Mike,

Way to go! That canopy looks GORGEOUS so far. Glad the BIG CUT went okay. I'm sure that's a big moment to be proud of. Keep the pics coming, please.

Bruce

Thanks Bruce! I plan to keep this thread updated with my plexi-progress until it is done!

Post by **bullojm1** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:02 pm

So tonight I was hell bent on cutting the sides of the canopy and getting the front transition nailed down. The sides were easy to cut, but I left a little meat on them to make a final cut once everything is final trimmed. Next was onto working on the transition from the front to the sides. I was freaked out thinking I could really mess things up and end up with a nasty gap between the skin and the canopy. However, the opposite was true. The more I trimmed, the better the fit got - it sucked down the gap that I had to nothing! Here is a close up of what the "close to final" trim looks like for you RV-7 tip-up guys that haven't reached this point. I would of loved to see another close up like this on another builders site to know what it should of looked like so I didn't need to go through a bunch of iterations to get here.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the "dog ears" cut to the final size and think about drillin' this sucka. Wait, am I allowed to drill with all you SikaFlex cult members out there?

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:55 am

bullojm1 wrote:<snip>...and think about drillin' this sucka. Wait, am I allowed to drill with all you SikaFlex cult members out there?

HAHAHA!!! No.

jim_geo · Post by **jim_geo** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:57 pm

That's looking really good. Nice and tight around the skin. I've heard of builders leaving gaps big enough to stick your fingers through.

smithhb · Post by **smithhb** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:22 pm

Mike, lookin' good! What is your technique for marking the smooth radius prior to cutting? Are you judging each cut decision by eye?

Post by **bullojm1** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:14 pm

smithhb wrote:Mike, lookin' good! What is your technique for marking the smooth radius prior to cutting? Are you judging each cut decision by eye?

Bret-

Yeah, each marking is more or less by eye. I do try my best to make each side symmetrical by measuring the distance between the prepunched holes on the skin to the proposed cut line. Using masking tape to mark the cut lines really helps out to make smooth transitions. Its tough to make a harsh transition when taping down masking tape and trying to avoid putting wrinkles on it!

Post by **bullojm1** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:06 am

Last night I finally got the ()()'s to drill the forward canopy to the frame. Of course, it ended up being a total non event. Feels great having this behind me. Time to move forward with the aft canopy, and then the real fun start!

cjensen · Post by **cjensen** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:42 pm

Great job Mike!! Looks fantastic!

I hope mine is a non-event as well!!

RivetBangers.com

Started cutting the canopy!

Started cutting the canopy!

It's not that hard.

Big Cut!