Finishing Kit

After trimming the original canopy the other day, it's now time to start on the new forward half. So today, I made the initial trims on the front end. Here's the canopy outside, ready to work on. I placed 2 x 4's across my sawhorses, with some blocks nailed down to secure the canopy for cutting.

You can imagine how wary I am at this point. I taped the cut line as I progressed, and made sure nothing would move as I finished this cut.

I also made the initial trim cuts along the sides of the canopy. Here's the finished product, after the cuts. Whew! What a relief to get this far and not have any damage.

Here are the scraps from todays' cutting:

Back on the airplane, it's time to evaluate where to go from here. With the initial trimming done, it's time to start the fine-tuning cuts and trims. Working on the damaged canopy the first time was really helpful for some valuable experience here. Eventually, I'll have to do a second "big cut" across the roll bar to trim off the excess. But I still haven't done the first one yet.

I was using my ruler to attempt to get some symmetry on both sides of center. Measuring from known points and comparing with the other side is a useful way of checking your progress.

Also, you can see that I have some gaps under some areas of the canopy.

Further trimming will make this fit like a glove. I hope.

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