Joshua's RV-9A Project

Still working on the canopy frame: today’s session involved fabricating the mounts for the lift struts.  The forward mount is made from a thick block of aluminum which is drilled and tapped, and affixed to the canopy frame with screws.  The aft mounts were fabricated but not installed yet; they will eventually be screwed to the canopy decks.  I plan to fabricate a “nutplate plate” for fastening those blocks (as many others do), rather than fuss with washers and nuts in the tight space up behind the decks.

I also fabricated and installed the forward canopy stops, a modification that is gaining popularity.  I found the bolts at Menards, they were called “elevator bolts” — their large diameter flat head should provide a nice bearing surface for the canopy frame to push against.  The theory here is that by providing a hard point for the canopy to stop on, you eliminate some of the fit problems caused by the pressure of the lift struts pushing the frame forward in the down position.  It consists of an angle, a bolt, and 2 nuts per side, a pretty simple mod which should be worth it, if it helps even a bit.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 10:49 pm and is filed under Canopy & Frame. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.