Canopy frame tweaking
I decided to try and fix the canopy frame alignment problem, the gap at the left front. I drilled out the rivets in the frame around the hinge arm. I temporarily put .625 shims in between the front of the frame and the flange for the hinge arm. I clecoed that together and re-installed the frame. That brought the frame too far forward, so I tried .40 shims. Clecos don’t pull the parts together quite as close as rivets, and that has a huge effect on the fit. I ended up going with the .40 shims and riveted the joint back together. Now the gap on the left side is around 1/16″ and the right side is 3/64″. I can live with that. The gap also seems to change when I put pressure on different parts of the canopy skin, so the whole thing might change once I rivet on the skin. I was afraid the shims might adversely affect the fit of the skin to the frame, but the holes still line up pretty well. The aft row of holes need to be enlarge to #30 anyway for pop rivets.
The canopy frame has been the most difficult part in the kit to deal with so far. Considering the complexity of the part, the several different Al parts welded together, the fit was remarkably good out of the box. However, getting the perfect fit dialed in has been very frustrating.
While I had the canopy bubble off, I did one more round of trimming on the front of the canopy and enlarging the slots in the canopy skin. That fit is looking really good. I think it’s finally time for the final trim on the sides and back of the bubble.