Would you like a higher quality Canopy?

[Eyefly]

Here is my solution for the canopy. There are areas which flex a lot in the canopy and eventually break. I have learned to patch those areas with a small piece of kevlar 45 degrees to the angle where it flexes. lay it down and put a few drops of ca glue to wet it down. Hit it with kicker and your canopy will not rip. Kevlar will not rip. If you want to make the canopy flex less, you can ca a few strips of carbon on the inside in the same manner. I will have my 500 in a fee days and I can post a few pics of what I will do to beef it up. None of these modifications will survive a crash though.

[Ticidytoc]

:Pics

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

After 1 hover.

[Mercuriell]

I think the standard black canopy mount grommets are too hard - much easier and less traumatic to mount using the TREX600N grey grommets which fit perfectly.

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

It my be a bit unorthadox but i just rub a little saliva on my grommets before I attach the canopy. Work great!

[Mercuriell]

It my be a bit unorthadox but i just rub a little saliva on my grommets before I attach the canopy. Work great!

The things we have to do ......:rolling

[BruceW]

How about a little K/Y? :YeaBaby:

[BruceW]

Seriously... this time.

One of the problems I see with the canopy is how the plastic lip is folded underneath the main shell at the edges and how the canopy is designed to be installed. Since it needs to be spread at the rear to be placed in position, the inside edge of the lip is being lengthened further than it can handle. There just needs to be key points cut in the plastic to allow strain relief. If you look at the FG canopies on the TRex, there are no lips, its just a flat edge and its easy to flex without building up strain on any one point.

Here is an idea of where I think some key points could be cut as a notch or triangle to release the pressure on the inside lip as its being spread. At those points, the canopy should bend along the flat outer part of the shell only.

This is just an idea but I'll bet if the notch was cut and reinforcement was added on the inside flat part of the shell above the notch, the cut will not spread and rip.

Food for thought...

http://www.helifreak.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30919&stc=1&d=1195281646

[Ticidytoc]

I think the standard black canopy mount grommets are too hard - much easier and less traumatic to mount using the TREX600N grey grommets which fit perfectly.

I agree. I tried my old softer 600E grommets but they are too small for the holes in the canopy. So I took a drill bit (yeah, drill bit) to the grommets little by little to free them up a bit, seems to help as they are not as tough to get off. Maybe a little silicone lube to help?

Thanks for posting the pic Jeremy. So that is the only place it is cracking? Seems it's cracking from being spread out too far as the grommets hold a bit too well.

I have some very thin and light CF cloth when used with CA is amazingly strong, I think if you form it to the radius of the weak area and put in a single layer it should help.

-Matt

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

I'm being VERY careful and have only had the canopy on the heli 3 times to this date. I don't know how to be anymore careful at this point.

I will work on the grommets and try some strengthening technics soon. Where do you get the CF cloth?

BruceW that is a very point. I'm sure Mikado is reading this and thinking it over. Just a little R&D and they can come up with a canopy that is both light and durable. It really wouldn't take much.

[Ticidytoc]

CST has just about anything you would want. I dont remember where I picked this stuff up from, prob. from them. A layer or two with some CA and this stuff is very rigid, comes in sheets 12x12 if i remember right. Just cut with scissors.

-Matt

[th3tick]

So, here's pictures of my tears. If you look at the second one closely, it shows a fourth tear starting to form already. At least the stickers seem to stop them from tearing further!

John

[BruceW]

Those are the type of tears that I think could have been avoided with some strategically placed notches on the inner lip with reinforcement around the notch. Could you post a bigger picture of where all the tears are so we can see them in perspective to the whole canopy? I plan on notching my canopy.

[th3tick]

They're a lot harder to see in this size, but I've put circles approximately where they are, as best as I can see them.

Of course, mine arrived this way, so I'm not sure what I can do for your idea on it...

John

[BruceW]

Thanks John, that is exactly what I was looking for and is about where I expected it to break based on the rear being spread.

[th3tick]

One other place that probably is worth reinforcing is the two semicircular notches in the bottom of the canopy which rides on the skids. I just noticed one of those has started to tear. Guess I must have bumped the nose at some point :confused: It just takes all the load from above, and is the only support aside from the two pegs.

John

[rwharrisjr]

I was having orientation problems with my 500 3D that I don't have with my T-Rex 600 and decided that even though both canopies are painted yellow, there's a whole lot more yellow showing on the T-Rex. Just for the heck of it I tried the T-Rex canopy on the 500 and it fits like a glove. Note the extra mounting holes required to fit the 500 canopy mounts. The down side is the extra 2.4 oz weight of the T-Rex canopy. You guys with Logo 600's just need to move the front landing gear strut back to the Logo 500 position and it will probably work on that heli as well.

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

:motz:hammer:motz:hammer:motz:hammer:Chair:motz:Ch air:motz:Chair:Chair:motz

[th3tick]

And thus, the T-Logo 500 was born.

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

:) You didn't see that

[jamesotron99]

Where did you hear this?

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

SHHhhhhhhhhhhh.......................... ;)

Anyways..... Man we shouldn't be putting Trex 600 canopies on our Logos. That's a sin.

[th3tick]

I can forgive him since we all don't have a friend with a paint shop ;)

Until some of the canopy folks start making some nice custom ones, and until the miracle of an upgraded canopy appears, it's not a half-bad idea. I'll probably suffer with the tears on mine still, but I'm tempted...

(where's the smiley for running and hiding ;)

John

[LITHIUMSTATIC]

:lol:

[Mercuriell]

Psss - there's some other T600 parts that fit the Logo 600 like tail crank, main shaft bearings, spindle shaft spacers, tail spindle slider bearing and of course flybar and paddles on the 500 (but don't tell anyone I said so) - I received mostly 500DX packs in my 5003D kit and pillaging some T600 parts kept me going till reinforcements arrived.

BTW having planted two T600S 4 times firmly in the dirt in the past 2 weeks I can tell you with absolutely no doubt that the T600 canopy plays a MAJOR role in shock impact and protecting other bits