Canopy Prep Work HOBBS 1131.5 hrs

Just a real quick update to let you know whats been going on in the Factory lately. First off, the hours have decreased slightly now that school is back in session. I have only logged 11 hrs in each of the last two weeks. Down a little from my productive stretch over the break, but this was anticipated as my school workload came back into play.

But have no fear, we are still pressing the attack and on schedule. When I got my finishing kit, as you know, I excitedly jumped right into cutting the canopy. Now that I have that behind me, I realized I have some prep work to do before I can glue my canopy in place with SikaFlex (much more on this later). So, that has been occupying my time in the shop lately.

First order of business was to finish riveting the canopy frame together. As you can see, I haven't riveted the red anodized support brackets yet, that will come after painting.

I was playing around with panel layouts since I need to decide on a strategy so I can modify the mounting ribs behind the panel...the ones that get in the way of any glass panel you install...you'll see what I mean later.

Getting the cross support bracket behind the seats and the gussets finally riveted in place. Dont forget the two -426 rivets.

Roll bar attach brackets bolted in place...ready to receive the roll bar.

Riveted the canopy latch in place and then assembled the mechanism. As you can see I painted this side skin as the CAD interior side panel will have some access holes here and I didn't want bare alum showing.

Riveted my small attach pieces in place as I get these ready to rivet them onto the canopy frame structure.

Not sure if I previously mentioned it, but I bought some Sherwin Williams JetFlex interior paint for the cockpit. This is standard issue, satin black. It took me a handful of batches before I got the mixture right (big, paint learning curve!!) but it is now laying down pretty good. Here you can start to visualize how its going to look in the end.

And another 'to do' item is to finish up my rudder pedal assembly. First task was to paint over the factory 'off white' powder coat. Make sure you scuff up the powder coat good before doing this. I have learned that scuffing (surface prep) is crucial for good paint adhesion...don't skimp on it.