Canopy off, canopy on
We pulled the canopy to seal up some small holes along the forward bulkhead that easily allowed rain in. During initial build, I decided to do away with the canopy quick release hinge pin assembly in favor of a simple bolt, castle nut, and cotter pin. It has been working great but this is the true test; maintenance operations. I had the cotter pins out well within 5 minutes thanks to the access panels in the top forward skin. Tanya went below and unhooked the GPS2 and XM antennas that are parked on the glare shield. The gas struts were removed and before you know it, we had the tipup canopy sitting on the floor.
The objective here was to squirt some proseal in the bulkhead/skin gaps where the canopy skin closes on the fuselage. There are some big openings up there that freely let rain in if you fly through some. One day not so long ago, I flew through just a little rain, and it was raining on my ankles before I knew it :).
Anyway, we loaded up a syringe with proseal and fought it into the gaps, sealing the holes. It isn’t the prettiest thing after the fact, but it is the best way to improve the situation. Proseal is still my friend. It was nice to visit with it again.
The next day, the proseal was well dry since it was in the hangar with 95+ degree temperatures. This stuff can take many days to cure in cooler temps, but high temps do the trick right away. We lifted the canopy back on and reinserted the bolts from below. I’ll admit, I spent a whole 20 minutes cussing the cotter pins upon reassembly, but overall, it worked out just fine. The canopy is back on and good to go with that little exercise completed. Note to future builders: Do this before final assembly! The next step in rain proofing is to deal with the open space between the forward bulkhead and the instrument panel with some kind of flexible (raincoat?) material. We’re leaving that for another day.
