DavidHarris
Well Known Member
I got a pit in my stomach yesterday discovering a crack near the canopy latch in my RV-7A slider canopy. The aircraft has about 140 hours on it. The canopy was attached with SikaFlex and the leading edge was sanded to reduce stress concentrations. The crack extends from the front edge of the slider about 10 inches back. I do not know the root cause of the crack. The airplane is normally hangared, but for the past week it has been tied down outside at Big Bear Lake in the cold and sun and wind. The only good thing is that the crack is outside my field of view during normal flight.
I plan to stop drill the crack as described in AC43-13 Figure 3-21. I then need to patch the crack.
AC43-13 3-24a seems to call for a surface patch, apparently made of plexiglass at least 1.5" wide shaped in hot oil to match the contour and attached with a plastic solvent adhesive. This sounds like a challenge for my level of skill and equipment.
I've searched the VAF forums and am having trouble finding how others have done such repairs. Can anyone advise?
Thank you,
David Harris
I plan to stop drill the crack as described in AC43-13 Figure 3-21. I then need to patch the crack.
AC43-13 3-24a seems to call for a surface patch, apparently made of plexiglass at least 1.5" wide shaped in hot oil to match the contour and attached with a plastic solvent adhesive. This sounds like a challenge for my level of skill and equipment.
I've searched the VAF forums and am having trouble finding how others have done such repairs. Can anyone advise?
Thank you,
David Harris