Logged another solid 22.0 hr week. Notice I am now just tickling 1100 hrs...wow, that was a fast 100 hrs since clocking 1000 about 6 weeks ago. This is a screenshot of my time tracking spreadsheet...I know, I'm sometimes quite anal. :) The blue line shows my weekly hour output and the red line shows my running average. As you probably know, I started this tracking 16 weeks ago when I made the prediction I would have this thing flying a year and a half from then (or by April of 2013). To do that, I plan to average 15 hrs per week until completion....this pace will yield 750 man-hrs a year....no small feat, but should get me to where I want to be. This is harder than it sounds...15 hrs is admittedly a little grueling for me...luckily I'm enjoying the work. :) But as you can see, the good news is I am right on target so far with my average.
Alright, with the anodized side canopy rails riveted in place...it was now time to tackle the canopy frame. First order of business is making some 1/8" and 7/8" spacers. I used some 1/8" alum scrap and used my old trick and cut some PVC for the larger ones.
I felt like this was kind of an important part in the project for me as I start into the canopy...so why not get a couple pics...of me! :)
Checking the curvature of the side rails...clamping the side skirt in place...the curvature looked pretty darn good right out of the box. I tweaked them ever so slightly...but not much.
Getting the roll bar/canopy piece in place...this took a little bit of doing to get it just right. This is where the 7/8" spacers reside (under the 4 clamps)
Van's says to adjust the flanges to 92.5 degs...here I am checking where I am...this was repetitive...check, remove, tweak, check, remove, adjust...etc
I got it pretty darn good...as you can see...its not easy, but important. Final adjustments will be made when the actual plexi canopy is in place but the closer you get the frame the better. Less adjustments or shims later...at least in theory. I have an aching feeling this canopy is going to be a bugger to get a nice fit. Oh well, the journey is gonna be fun...and rewarding!
I used some scrap angle and a piece of scrap 0.032 sheet to simulate the plexi and the side skirt. Oh...also, I realize I need more clamps!! I will have to make a hardware store run soon to stock up...the canopy is going to take a lot of them I'm thinking?
Getting everything lined up nicely before committing to drilling holes...lots of checking and double checking...
Alright, lets drill some metal! These are the first ones I did...through the splice plate on the other side.
After getting it drilled...you then remove the cleco-ed frame and do some more work to it to shore it up. First is to make these cheesy little wedge spacers. These are a pain. You can get an idea from this pic how mine turned out.
And this pic shows where it resides. I didn't push this baby all the way up...see the slight gap? It would have to be razor thin to get all the way in and I just didn't see the need to kill myself doing it...I almost lost a finger or two belt sanding/filing these to this point! ;)
This was one of my modifications to stiffen up the attach point for the side rail, much like I did on the canopy support roll bar....some 0.062" in this case. One of the complaints with the existing design is it tends to be floppy when lifting it from one side. I'm hoping this will help with that. It was a good idea, but my execution wasn't too stellar as you can see that the holes didn't come out centered. That is where it fit on the plane...when I had it all clamped in place and back-drilled the side rails they came out this way.
And now that I have it riveted back together...I put it back on the fuse. Next step is lowering the plexi into place for the first time...followed by my first trim cuts as I start down the long road of working the plexi into its final shape. I spent a long day Sunday getting the canopy frame done and was just too exhausted to put the plexi on yet even though I was excited to do so. I just didn't want to do it in my tired state and risk doing something stupid with that $1200 piece of plastic...so next session I will lift it into place and we'll be off and running.
This is a funny pic to me...my canopy has been sitting in my living room since I received it. This is the beauty of being a bachelor RV builder!! I can just hear a wife nagging me to move that damn thing.... ;) but its very, very faint...almost imperceptible. KPR!
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