Over the last two evenings I finished riveting the canopy frame together. For forward section went together ok, and I was frequently checking the twist as I riveted. There were a couple of interesting rivets, but generally it was fairly easy. I was able to fairly quickly rivet on the side rails and the aft frame. Once done I couldn’t resist setting the canopy on top to see how it looked.
Tonight I finished riveting all of the holes common to the canopy skin and under structure. It took a while but it was easy work. Setting the structure on it’s side I could easily reach both sides and control the riveting easily.
Tonight I worked on riveting the forward section of the canopy frame. I was careful to check for twist throughout the process, and occasionally manipulated the frame to correct any error.
Today I countersunk the base of the forward canopy frame. It’s weird that the plans have you do this step now, vs doing it before it’s riveted to the frame. There are clearly some out-of-step issues with the plans in the canopy frame section, but I’m hoping it will still work out ok.
Tonight I riveted a lot of the canopy frame skin to the sub structure. It was fairly fast and easy going, and everything turned out well.
Over the course of the last week my Dad and I installed the rear window. There is some trimming to do first, which we did with a jig saw and a diamond blade. This was a good setup as it was accurate, square and it melted nicely through the material. With the notes cut, then filed and scraped to final dimensions, the process of drilling the canopy starts. With one person holding a black of wood to back up the Perspex, and the other one drilling, we were able to drill all of the holes without trouble. The forward edge is a little different, as the drill needs to be lined up and square to drill through into the roll bar. The holes are the final sized and tapped. My dad did an excellent job and the finished window fits perfectly!
My Dad and I worked on the seat backs, with Dad doing all of the work, except for spray painting the primer, and setting a few rivets that required the gun and bucking bar. They didn’t all turn out well; at times the piece vibrated in the vice and caused the gun to skip, leaving with a smiley face. I’m not too worried as the seats will be painted and have cushions covering them.
Much like the VS, my Dad helped install the rudder fairings. The rudder came out looking great, with the light installed and some wiring and a molex connector installed too.
With my Dad in town, it was great to get his expert advice and handiwork with the firbreglass fairings. Being a boat builder back in New Zealand, my Dad has a lifetime of skill and experience working with all kinds of things including fiberglass. He’s a master at the stuff, so he went to work on the rudder and vertical stabilizer fairings.
The VS fairing needs an insert of glass on the aft edge and Dad made quick work of getting it made up and glassed in. the only real challenge was getting the fairing square. The piece is molded in two half’s then glued together, but there seems to be some slight misalignment of the halves casing it to be slightly lopsided. Dad got it pretty straight, so it looks awesome.
Since the end of November, I’ve been working on the canopy frame. After debuting and priming everything, I spent time carefully following the steps called out in the plans. There is some fluting required that helps shape the substructure and allowing it to sit flush against the skin. Everything has gone well so far, and the frame seems to be coming together quite easily. Some of the steps in the plans appear out of order, but I’m doing the best I can to follow along.
