Phil wrote: > I forgot to ask, Can I drill and bolt the hinge through the frame and > canopy, to save on extra build up of Carbon fibre to the hinge area?? > Would the holes need to be larger than the bolts through the Perspex even > when it is coated with C/Fibres and glass on both sides?????
I'm not sure if I understood enough about the first question to answer it. But I wouldn't put a hole thorough the acrylic and use it to bolt it to the hinges, even with reinforcement on both sides. I've just heard too many stories of canopies cracking around these holes (even just drilling them) to risk it. I'd gladdly add another ounce of carbon fiber to spread that load around and remove that stress riser from that expensive (and labor intensive) piece of plastic. If I were going to build my canopy again, I'd use the Banbi method like John Martindale did (see http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford/jmartindale/ ). This is stronger than the way I did it, leaves full room up front for a baggage area (which would help counteract a passenger's aft CG), and the loads are a long way from the canopy itself. And it would be far easier to build. Just duct tape over the longerons, clamp about three quarter inch strips of laminated spruce to the longeron and let cure, build the hinge mechanism and connect it before breaking the spruce loose from the duct tape, and then build the canopy onto the top of it. That way it'd be a perfect fit, and it would be a real piece of cake to remove the canopy. Mark Langford, Huntsville, Alabama see KR2S project N56ML at http://home.hiwaay.net/~langford email to N56ML "at" hiwaay.net --------------------------------------------------------------
