Cutting has Commenced! HOBBS 1103.0 hrs

After re-installing my riveted canopy frame and then jacking with it for quite awhile, I was ready to throw my plexi canopy in place. Back to the canopy frame for a minute...I tell ya, that bugger was just a touch frustrating and I fear that it is a sign of things to come. I read someone's recent post on VAF where he said something along the lines, "he had a discussion with his frame, until he finally won the argument and it relented..." haha! I had a similar "discussion", it was weird, it looked good one minute..take it off, make a seemingly small tweak, reinstall and it was now way off! WTF?! So, back and forth I went until I liked how it was fitting. Once that was done...heck, lets get to it!

And here it is...some builders are pretty fond of this moment in the build--so I was also very excited to see it on the fuse for the first time. It was kind of anti-climactic for me personally. First, it was pretty difficult to get it lifted in place by myself (highly recommend you get help for this if you have it readily available...I kept waiting for that chilling 'pop' that signifies a cracked canopy!). So all along, I was kind of getting that dreaded feeling I sometimes get when I am flying...of "do I know what the heck am I doing?' And then once it was in place, as you can see, it really doesn't fit all that well initially as there is a fair amount of trimming ahead to bring it into shape. So, yeah, kinda cool...but not really that great....have no fear though, it gets much better... :)

Ok, so now I had it in place on the fuse...marked my centerline and some initial rough trim lines. It now dawned on me that I had no place to put said canopy for trim work. I pulled out the top cover of the finishing kit crate that I still had laying around (Van's sure does use good plywood for shipping crates!). I also used the same 2x2's from the crating that were wrapped in cardboard...I placed these 43" apart to hold the spread of the canopy. I think it is very important to have a good stable fixture like this to secure your canopy during cutting. This setup worked perfectly...cheap and easy too.

Again, I wrestled the canopy off the fuse and onto my newly made cutting table...and again, sweating bullets that it was going to 'crack' as I awkwardly moved it into place! As I worked more with it throughout the night, I relaxed a little...in this state, it appears to be pretty stable. Just don't add a stress riser and then move it...or all bets are off.

On that note, I recommend all builders approaching this phase to read fellow builder Bruce Swayze's account of cracking his canopy...and how easily it can happen. Kudo's to Bruce for being man enough to post this for all the world to see so we can all learn from it. There was a time during my cutting that I was tempted to reposition my canopy during a cut...and I thought of Bruce's experience and said to myself, "don't you dare"! So, thanks Bruce...if I get through this without cracking it, I owe you a beer! :)

Before I get into the cutting portion...let me add, again, this is about a $1200 part so I was a little apprehensive during this entire work session for obvious reasons. Mess this up and its a very expensive mistake.

Ok, deep breath and away we go...this was my first cut...along the front edge. As you work along, don't let the cut portion of plexi dangle behind you...use clamps to keep it in place...you guessed it, no stress risers. Let me add, the shop was only about 65 degs and I did nothing special to heat the canopy before cutting. I used Van's cutting disc supplied in the kit...cut it like butter and I would recommend it. These first cuts were really not a big deal, quite easy really...just keep the stress off the canopy as you work, your fixture should do this for you...cant emphasize that enough. After my first cuts I'm thinking this is no big deal...another 'overblown' part of the build by some builders. I'm going to try and make sure I don't get over-confident, but so far so good. We'll see if I'm still singing that tune at the end of the process...?

My centerline...if you look close, you can see some index lines about 1" apart (front and back) that I figured were indicating the center of the canopy...it came this way from the factory. Taking measurements to verify, they looked like they were indeed center. It is very difficult to know for sure though since the canopy edges are not symmetrical coming out of the mold so you have nothing consistent to measure from side to side. This will do for now...hopefully I can adjust this later if needed?

My rear trim line hand sketched...I left a strong 2" from the edge. Make sure you have the canopy is positioned very closely to where it will reside (front to back) if you are going to cut it this close. In hindsight...I maybe should have left a little more leeway to be safer?

NOW, things are starting to look fricken cool! After trimming the front and back it already it starting to take on that cool sleek look that I like so much with the tip-up canopy. Note: make sure you smooth all edges...i.e., remove all sharp edges before moving this bad boy out of your fixture. Its a little bit of a pain because in the back of your mind you know you are going to be doing more cutting later so its kind of wasted work...but you gotta do it to be safe, spend the time.

After carefully dressing the edges...I lifted it back onto the fuse...its already a little lighter, smaller and easier to move, which is helpful if you are doing this solo. Here is where I had my glorious moment...big 'RV grin' here as I stood back and looked at it! That's looking pretty sweet don't ya think??

An obligatory pose with my night's handiwork...this was an exciting work session and stage in the build.