Chapter 18    Canopy & Turtleback                                                                

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As of April 08 I'm finishing this chapter up. It turned out to be one of the bigger projects on the plane, took much longer than I expected.

                               

     

 Here are a couple of shots of the turtle back under construction.

       

I used the Texas canopy from Todd, I like the lines ok, 
I was worried about it being too big at first but I think it's fine now.
Also note I left the windows out for now. I think this is a good move for a 
couple of reasons. 1 you can reach in and work the flox while installing the 
canopy, and  2, it's good to leave these out as long as possible to prevent
damage from sanding etc.

         

Here you can see the infamous side hinge laid out on a curved tub. I'll have to fair this in somehow  later like everyone else that used the side hinge. Also like everyone else, I used too much micro to join the foam blocks. It's hard to judge where the foam will get sanded to, but you want to estimate this as best you can and then keep the micro well inside . The plans do say to  use a  very few dabs , I now think he really meant just that. 

                           

 I liked the over center device Wayne Hicks  used, so I copied it. I did not use the expensive Hendricks latch though. Since my nose door is lockable, I will run a cable to that door and and use it to pull the mechanism forward thus locking the canopy. I have yet to build a forward stop for the handle, but it will include a mount for the micro switch. Also yet to be done is to build a spring loaded thumb latch to lock the handle forward. I agree with Waynes assesment that it is probably unnessesary as it takes a good strong pull to release from the over center position, but it will have one anyway.  Another thing I like is if unlocked, the handle is right in the way of the control stick, you could not possibly miss it.

                

 Ok, it's July 2009 and I have the latch complete. I works very nice and I'm real happy with it, I just wish I could have got a few more rivets in the bearing housing :-). Actually this is the same bearing we use in the wing root for the aileron pivot. The 'girls sent me this one without the bellcrank. I still need to replace the hardware store screws you see in the picture so no need to alert me of danger. The same fitting you see here gives me an over center latch with forward stop, a safety catch, and a micro switch for the warning system. Not seen in the picture is the torque spring that I used to keep the safety catch closed. This was one big pain the a@#@ss. I eventualy found a suitable spring after a chain saw shop let me prowl through the junk drawer.

               

 

Here you can see my forward deck cover and instrument panel cover. I did this a little different than the plans. I found this great edge trim/seal material at McMaster-Carr aircraft supply. It's called "P" seal and they have many different styles. In order to use it, I made my IP cover fit under the forward deck cover, opposite the plans method. They are assembled using nut plates and screws with washers located between the two parts. This provided the flange I needed to put the seal on. I'm looking into using a similar product at the rear of the canopy also. I believe it will work dandy. You can see a better shot of it below where I used it to seal the nose door.