The Summer seems to be flying by! Between Junior Nationals, family trips, and work travel, I think I was home a total of 2 weeks in the month of July. I was lucky enough to get some time in the hangar during that time. I’ve been studying up on the canopy install, and the nightmares that folks have encountered, so was hesitant to get going on the project. After cleaning the hangar as a last ditch to procrastinate, I finally kicked off the finish kit, a series of miscellaneous projects that should result in an engine & avionics ready airframe.
First up is the Canopy rail assembly. this is the rear center rail that the canopy frame will slide back on.
Sam came by to help out and so I handed off the canopy rail assembly project to him. I worked in parallel getting the side rails cut and fitted for test fit. One interested part of the canopy rail riveting is that the shop head side is dimpled along with the flush head side. This is to ensure the rail can sit flat on the fuselage. Even after nearly 4 years I can still doing something for the first time! Cool.
Once the rail was assembled, it was time to drill for installation. After measuring, and re-measuring… Sam and I agreed the rail was centered, and we match drilled the rail to the fuselage. Install was easy since it’s just screws and nuts. Once Piece I failed to document is the delerin parts that needed to be custom drilled to ensure a good fit. I’ll be sure to get some photos later.
It was time to open the big crate and pull out the canopy frame. A few months later than I was hoping, but we’re here! Test fit of the frame revealed a nice initial fit. There are some tweaks that need to happen, but so far so good!
And just like that July is over, and another month of build in the books. Next month is completely insane. Jack is heading off to college! Volleyball tryouts for Nico. And of course some more business travel coming. Holy cow! Slow and steady is the plan. Hopefully we can make some serious progress on the canopy install next month. Engine is coming the month after…so the race is on! Until then…. Happy Building!