Forward Canopy Fiberglass

 Morning all. Catching up on my posting as I have quite a back log of pictures to get through here. I have been working on the canopy. After installing the actual wind screen, I need to dress it in with a few layers of fiberglass and a "bondo-like" material to make it a happy aerodynamic shape. 

Starting with the Fiberglass Layup. Strips are cut to transition between the aluminum deck and the plexi. I did around 6 layers progressively getting smaller while building up. 

Then we use AwlFair which is a two part filler material which won't shrink. This will be applied and sanded many times to get the final smooth shape needed. Think airflow. 

Mounting Engine

OK, OK,OK, this isn't the actual engine. I have picked up an engine core (completely run out, not running engine) to use to continue the build process. Engine is an O-320-D3J from a Piper Archer. This is kind of an advantage is some ways. If I were to buy a new engine now, it would sit around until I finish the build. Airplane engines do not like to sit around. I can only imagine what is going on inside this run out engine. 

Anyway I can use this to continue building. Down the road I have the option to rebuild this engine or find a better one. To be determined. . .

Wheel Fairings

The gear and wheel fairings as said to increase the top speed by 12 MPH. The kit does contain a great shape to get started with. I start out with some trimming the gear leg fairings to remove excess material to make them fit properly. 

Next the wheel pants them selves.

Fitting to the wheels

Used laser levels to create a grid aligned to the center line which made the line up a snap. 

Mocking up the intersection fairings. 

Again using the laser level to line up the gear fairings. 

Accurate to 1/32 inch. I'm sure once they are put on and off a few times, they will become sloppy, But for now, they are correct. 

Canopy Bow

This is a modification from the original design which is supposed to increase the durability of the joint between the canoy and the wind screen. Instead of a fiberglass overlap, I will be using a .032 inch aluminium sheet cut the correct shape.

 

Completed Canopy

So one thing I can say, the canopy takes a long time to complete. A loooooooooong time. I will admit there was a lot of start and stop work over a few months to complete this. I would guess there is more than 60 hours in total to complete this component. I am extremely happy with the finished product. I'll give the abridged version here the get this blog caught back up to present day.

Cutting the Canopy

This is probably one of the most nerve racking jobs on the plane. You get one shot at cutting the canopy split in the correct location for you have to order a new part at $1200 a pop plus a big freight bill.  First lay out the cut lines on the bottom and make the first cuts. This is a single post however this process took over two weeks to this point. Still not done.



Used masking tape to place the line.



First cut completed.



And the second side.



Test fit and find the location of the mid line cut which separates the forward windshield and the canopy. 





And now a test fit on the plane.