Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Glenn Davis on November 14, 2020 at 8:03am

Hi Dave,

My advise is related to replacing the canopy if that's the direction you go.

Follow good practices when drilling plastic

Use abrasive disks to cut the canopy

Use a heat gun to very carefully soften the plastic around your fasteners to relieve any stress.

Good Luck!

Glenn 

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Permalink Reply by Gary Welch on November 14, 2020 at 9:22am

I did mine with screws per the Zenith plans. Over-sized the holes and used tinneman washers. I spent a lot of time polishing the holes to eliminate minor stress cracks. I used fine sandpaper wrapped around a pencil for the inside of the holes, For the hole outer edges - I can't remember what I used but I did them separately, both sides. 

Make no mistake, building a canopy is not an easy process. And every second of the process you are one slip away from cracking it and having to start all over. I have built two because my first one cracked when it was nearly 100% complete. I swore I would never build another one. I'd sell the plane first. 

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Permalink Reply by David Krakowsky on November 14, 2020 at 10:06am

Thanks for the tips

I’m going to try to repair the crack as I have done when I first got the plane 6 years ago.

it seems to have held up ok.

just wondering how difficult the replacement would be.

Gary convinces me.

thanks

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Permalink Reply by Larry Zepp on November 18, 2020 at 11:21am

Hi David,

I am close to completion on a Zodiac 650B. I used screws and countersunk tinnerman washers to spread out the load. I did not like the difficulty of a Tinnerman screw trying to form a thread in the hard aluminum hoops. Instead I used flat head stainless machine screws and used my cordless drill to tap machine screw threads into each hole in the hoop. That gave me easy tightening without over torque. Also, I confirmed that Loctite urethane roof caulk was compatible with the canopy plexiglass and applied a dab of this urethane caulk before I installed the washer and screw. Looks good now, but no flight time yet.  One other note - do not use any type of Loctite of anaerobic thread locker in contact with the canopy. The Loctite causes the canopy to crack - it attacks the plexiglass. Not what you need!. Larry Zepp, Zodiac 650B N22LZ

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Permalink Reply by David Krakowsky on November 19, 2020 at 1:31pm

Thanks for your input

Dave

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Permalink Reply by David Krakowsky on November 23, 2020 at 7:46pm

Thanks for the info

Im in florida

I repaired it for now and will watch it to see how it holds up

Dave

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