13.
Fuselage Hatch and Canopy
Take the canopy and carefully cut away the waste material by cutting along
the outline.
At this stage a pilot, instrument panel and battery indicator may be attached to
the fuselage hatch if desired.
Attach the canopy to the fuselage hatch. This may be screwed in place, but
we prefer the use of chemotropic evo-stick to glue the canopy in place.
This is done by removing a ¼” of film away from the edge of the canopy line &
applying the glue to the canopy & the wood that is showing after the film is
removed.
The thixotropic glue allows positioning of the canopy before pressing
permanently pressing into place. The subsequent unsightly bear wood that
shows through the canopy can then be disguised with red vinyl trim to make a
very neat canopy installation, as shown in the picture below.
g
Battery
indicator
Tape used to
secure canopy
in place
Tapped hole
in locatin
tongue
Lastly fit and tape the fuselage hatch in place and then drill through the
fuselage sides into the centre of the hatch locating tongues with a 3mm drill.
Now remove the fuselage hatch and use a 4mm tap to thread the holes in the
tongues – drip some thin CA onto the tapped threads.
With the hatch removed drill out the holes in the fuselage with a 4mm drill.
The fuselage hatch may now be retained using plastic 4mm bolts. Plastic
bolts will grip the wood and should not vibrate loose.