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Fastback Fiberglass Glareshield?

claycookiemonster

Well Known Member
All you Fastback guys, I'm getting to the point where I'm trimming the forward fiberglass glareshield/avionics cover. The instructions seem to call for the glareshield to be trimmed flush to the face of the instrument panel. Has anyone left some overhang to keep the sun off of the panel? I can't imagine a problem doing this, but, then again, sometimes my imagination misses things.
 
Showplanes fastback? Depends on where you put the forward canopy rib. I have an 1/8", maybe 3/16 overhang on my cover.
 
Yes, Showplanes.

Dan, can you see any reasons not to keep an inch or more overhang? Will it make ingress or egress more difficult? I know the basic fiberglass piece isn't very strong, so it would require some stiffening.

Most glareshields I've worked behind gave some cover to the panel. Since there seems to be some extra here that I'm being asked to trim back, I'm just wondering what happens if I don't?
 
Different airplane and not that particular assembly, but I made a fiberglass canopy fairing/frame assembly for my little RV-3B, and left a 3 1/2" overhang around the panel. Actually, that's the minimum. At the sides it's longer. Here's a photo of the fairing/frame before installing the canopy and before painting it.

Canopy Fairing Fwd S.JPG

Dave
 
My -8 doesn’t have a lip, and I don’t find it to be any problem at all. In fact, if I had a lip and the canopy was open, I feel something would catch it and break it - probably me!

Once closed, the canopy’s front bow covers it all.
 

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