The name of the game will be "canopy" for a while I think. Given how fiddly it has been so far, I imagine it's going to take me a couple of months of work to finish it. While most of the kit parts are fantastic, the canopy frame lives up to its reputation as something that should have been redesigned 30 years ago.
The instructions provide an outline of the order to build the frame in, but after reading a ton of build logs and seeing 100 different approaches, the plans approach just doesn't make much sense to me. I'm going to bounce around in a different build order in an attempt to do things in a way that will hopefully make the fit slightly less frustrating to get right.
While I've been contemplating how to tackle the frame, I started making a bunch of the smaller parts that I'll eventually need, like the stack-up and mounting brackets for the hydraulic arms, splice plates for the frame, etc.
I put the riveted rear channel back on the roll bar with the wood spacers in between. The fit isn't as great as I'd like, with some low spots on the top flange relative to the roll bar, but it's as good as it can get. I've decided I'll use Sika to glue the canopy on. By doing that instead of using screws/nuts, I have a little more wiggle room with the fit of the canopy to the flange. The Sika glue requires a 1/8"(ish) gap between the parts, so a little uneven fit will easily be absorbed by the glue, whereas a screw/nut approach would require a much more consistent and tight fit across the entire length of the channel.
I did my best to get the flange bent to the right angle, as well as set at the right height to align to the roll bar.
The instructions would have me finishing the front canopy frame at this point, but I don't see how you can reliably get it set to the correct height for drilling without first knowing where the aft portion of it will set relative to the side rails. I spent a couple of hours working on the side rails to get them to match up with the fuselage curve. I put some .032" spacers on the outside to get the inset from the fuselage side skin correct. The canopy skirt will attach to the side rail and if all goes well, will align with the fuselage skin when the canopy is closed.
Van's sent me a replacement left side rail because the first one was so badly manufactured. This one is slightly better, but still not as good as the right side. I think their jig may just be off for the left side, because they are welding the aluminum angle at a slight angle to the side rail. Whereas my original part created a huge 3/8"+ gap with the rear channel, this one was only about 3/32". I asked online, and a bunch of people said "yep, just like mine." I ground some of the angle here, twisted a little there, and by the end got the gap down to a little under 1/16". I'll either fill the gap with a shim or I'll just let the rear channel twist a little to mate up with the angle. I THINK a tiny twist would be fine, so may just go that route. I'll have to think about it. Not shown in the pictures, I drilled the 6 reference holes in the angle that will later attach it to the rear channel.
It doesn't seem like much in pictures, but that was the better part of a day! A lot of work for very little progress.
