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Going from Tip up to Slider?

Drifteral

Active Member
Anyone have a rough idea what it would take for money to go from a Tip up to a Slider canopy.
I see the canopy roll bar "WD-641" and canopy frame WD-640" are no longer on "The list" on Vans web site.

I'm currently rebuilding a long sleeping 6A and have a new un-cut canopy to replace the old one. My fuselage us currently in the canoe stage so I could go either direction.

Thanks
Al
 
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I bought a project 6A kit and discovered I had a tip up fuselage and a slider finish kit. So the decision was made to go to a slider.

The main surprise was that the subpanel (panel behind the instrument panel) is totally different. So that had to be removed, replacement parts obtained and installed. If your fuselage is complete only up to the longerons then I don't think there's any remove/replace needed. If you don't have the correct subpanel and subpanel ribs, you'll need to obtain those from Van's. Otherwise just follow the slider specific steps.
 
I believe I've heard the canopy parts are identical between the RV7 and RV6 - but call or email Van's to confirm that. At one point I thought the canopy itself was NLA, but then found out the canopy bubble is unchanged from the 6 to the 7.
 
I believe I've heard the canopy parts are identical between the RV7 and RV6 - but call or email Van's to confirm that. At one point I thought the canopy itself was NLA, but then found out the canopy bubble is unchanged from the 6 to the 7.
Perhaps you mean the canopy itself as the frame is completely different. Yes, the canopy itself is the same.
 
Looking at builder's logs of RV7 and RV9 the parts sure look the same to me as on the 6. I'm talking slider parts...

If Van's deletes / replaces items from "The List" I sure wish they would either put in "NLA" or "superseded by X". It would save everyone time. My plans call out the part numbers noted above and I confirm, the parts have simply vanished from "The List".
 
Frame different

There are differences between the sliding canopy frame for the RV-6 and RV-7/9 based on comparing the frame (WD640) that came in my kit compared to a buddy's RV-9, e.g. the side horizontal tubes are round on the 6 and square on the 7/9. But I don't see why you wouldn't be able to make a 7 canopy frame fit on the 6 fuselage, with a bit of work. The skin behind the canopy is also different for the slider but could probably be cut down, otherwise a new -7 skin would be pre-punched and need a bit of fiddling.
I think there's generally quite a bit more work to get a slider to fit well, versus the tip up, but it is cool!
I don't know how much the parts would cost but everything has gone up anyway so Vans will be able to provide the most reliable info.
 
Slider parts

The three forward ribs are different.
Top firward skin?
Forward roll bar
Roll bar brace
Canopy track
Some misc parts like the locking pin HDPE blocks and hardware.
 
There are differences between the sliding canopy frame for the RV-6 and RV-7/9 based on comparing the frame (WD640) that came in my kit compared to a buddy's RV-9, e.g. the side horizontal tubes are round on the 6 and square on the 7/9...

RV-6 slider went to square side tubes maybe in 2001, same PN… WD-640. RV-7 uses WD-640 also per dog 42 R1 dated 2001.
 
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My RV6 build has the square side tubes and I’ve been able to make them fit. My first RV6 (22 years ago) had the round tubes on the side and they were equally poor fitting. The square side tubes was an improvement and made the side skirts easier to build and install correctly. The RV6, 7, and 9 fuselage is mostly identical. The main difference to me, is the wing spar and carry through structure, and the seat pans. There are some other small scale improvements in the -7 that can be incorporated in your RV6, and also a few RV14 parts that are improvements and will work on any SBS RV.
 
The canopy parts (slider or tip-up) in the finish kits for an RV-6 or RV-7 are the exact same parts.
The sliding canopy kit was revised slightly when the RV-9A was introduced(1999) and the tip-up was revised slightly when the RV-7 was introduced (2000), so if more recent kits are ever compared to a kit older kit than that, some slight differences might be noticed.
 
Thanks for all the info guys!

I decided to open the wallet and order the needed parts for a slider.
Last wed I had the opportunity to sit in a slider with the Supertracks kit and it was a no-brainer decision.

You might loose a small amount of visibility but getting in and out was a lot easier and being able to open the canopy during taxi was very nice!
 
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