Lindy
5/12/2008
The gap between the canopy frame skin and the fuselage has been bothering me for weeks now. I had a good 1/4" gap, and it probably protruded past the sides of the fuselage by 3/16" or more on both sides. The best idea I could come up with was to use a ratcheting strap to pull the sides inward. This actually worked perfectly. I used a couple of scrap boards to prevent damage to the skin, and cranked the strap down nice and tight until I the skin was about 1/4" inside the fuselage. That (I think) would allow the frame to spring back a little bit.
As I said, this worked perfectly, and the frame sprang out just enough to line up with the fuselage.
The right side-
Left side-
I am VERY pleased with this now!
With that out of the way, I started working on the tip up strut mounts. These are made from AL bar with the rear mounts made from 1/8" bar stock, and the front from a much thicker 1/2" (or so) bar stock.
Here are the rear mounts marked and ready to be trimmed and drilled.
I didn't quite finish these tonight, but they are almost done.
All I have to do is clamp the rectangle pieces to the half moon pieces to drill the remaining holes. I'll finish them up tomorrow after my dad and I rivet the forward-aft skin on.
2.0 hours