Canopy Trimming

[mk1spitfire]

Anyone trimmed their canopy?

Ball links joints are very close to top front of canopy and could easily catch, jam or rip the edge.?

[macsrgreat]

I used my Dremel and sanded down the canopy in 3 places.

1 & 2 bottom of canopy near notch to allow easy fit of the canopy around the frame after going in the bottom notch of the frame that holds the canopy.

3. Sanded the area you are talking about just following the lines of the canopy to make it nice and smooth. Took a little time but looks like the canopy that came just works now.
A little frustrating but works well.

Hope this helps.:cheers

[mk1spitfire]

Thanks

[Finless]

Yep most of us have had to dremmel an area away from the canopy so the links dont rub....

Bob

[stembridge]

Just re-drilled the holes which most importantly made a little more room for the bigger size lipos, or just battery placement in general. Also made plenty of clearance for the linkages. No trimming, sanding required.

[erniefritz]

I used a dremel to fit my canopy perfectly but if i need more room for larger lipo's i'll remember this.... but i'd have to cover up the other hole somehow , it would drive me nut's having that ugly hole just sitting there...

[LONEWOLF2440]

used a dremel here

[mk1spitfire]

yer me2 i cant look at that picture any more

[stembridge]

You guys are to funny! ;) It would bug me also if I spent most of my time looking at it. Dont seem to notice when its inverted off the deck haulin ass tail first right by me. The thing will be eggshelled soon anyways. Will deal with the minor holes for now. Dont really notice it when your not upclose focused with a digi cam.

[erniefritz]

LOL , yea i hear ya , you don't see them when your flying. funny thing tho , while at the flying field and people look your machine over, watch how many people ask you "what are those extra holes for?" :LOL:

[fireup]

"what are those extra holes for?" :LOL:

To hang some earrings with.:YeaBaby:

[stembridge]

She is sexy, Earring would look good. ;) Gonna have to let the few at the field know that the holes were in the wrong spot when I got the kit. I doubt they will care. :) "What are the holes for"? I am trying to save weight. ;)

[W4DJW]

I had a different problem that may or may not be due to the same issue observed in this thread. My canopy was not molded symmetrical. The “bump” on the left (when view from the front of the helicopter) is smaller than the “bump on the right. This can be observed in the posted photo below. Mine may be a one off and then again it may not and that is one of the reasons I’m making this post.

You should be able to see the deformation from the attached photos. Upon first analysis it appeared as though the holes were in the wrong location. Further analysis proves the holes were in the right place and that the slot on the bottom of the canopy was not deep enough. After elongating the slot on the bottom as others in this thread have done, the holes lined up just fine.

With this fix I was left with one remaining problem and that was due to the asymmetry of the canopy. The main gear was rubbing the canopy on the left side (again when viewed from the front). I did try to push the most slack I could from the right to the left side but that didn’t accomplish anything. I then looked at a solution applied to a similar problem experienced when building the TRex 600E. It had canopy issues too and I used a piece of piano wire in the top most hole of the batter holder adjustment pattern with fuel tubing on the ends to hold the canopy open and away from the main gear and servo arms.

For the TRex 500 I couldn’t find a suitable hole as with the TRex 600 so I thought about drilling a hole in the fuselage sides. Problem with that was the ideal location would have gone right through the motor mount. Solution was to replace the screw that held the motor mount with a longer screw and a locknut. You can see the solution in the attached photos. To prevent rubbing a hole in the canopy, fuel tubing was added over the screw.

Hope this helps.

[raylepper]

...The “bump” on the left (when view from the front of the helicopter) is smaller than the “bump on the right. ....

More than one of the women I've known had.....
Nevermind.

[erniefritz]

LOL :) , most of the ones i knew were pointing 10 & 2....

[raylepper]

LOL :) , most of the ones i knew were pointing 10 & 2....
Exactly. Just like what your drivers ed teacher said about hand position.

[slowthumbs]

10 & 2 eventually becomes 8 & 4. Driving hand position of course!

[erniefritz]

yea , over time with gravity it just becomes 6 & 6 , Um , meaning 0ne hand on the wheel at the bottom... yea , that's it... :)

[raylepper]

:Pics

:rolling:rolling:rolling:rolling:rolling:rolling

[erniefritz]

photo's huh?

[raylepper]

OK. That's ugly.
Back to reality.
W4DJW,
Your fix looks pretty slick. My 500 canopy sits really well. Clears the swash links fine, without grinding. I built an FAI style fuse for my 450 (trying to make it more visible against the tree line). It had a similar 'warp' problem. I couldn't do more than keep things from rubbing. Never could get the warp I 'glued-in' to relax. I don't think yours is bad enough to worry about. Heck, In another thread (http://video.helifreak.com/?subpath=...e=evoscorp.wmv) Fireup can't even keep his on the heli.:lol:

[rmuckley]

So is the canopy fitting hit or miss or are they all not fitting properly? I haven't gotten to that point in my build to check it.

[mk1spitfire]

Yer check it!
You may find the canopy clears the front ball links but there has been a tendency for this gap to be small.
Don't forget you will get down draft and wind which might move the canopy slightly and thus could result in a jammed ball link or a ripped canopy edge.

Mk1

[robmoney]

Canopy fit is the only complaint I have about my kit! I dremeled it and it is fine, just a little warped though... I would imagine Align will work up much better canopies once the other color options are available. I'll take it warp for now as it is an awesome kit. Much better kit/build than the 450 or the 600E!

Maiden today! :)

[cudaboy_71]

if you're binding at all on the battery packs, the canopy will distort and get close to the links. also, if you miss the front slot on the lower frame, the same will happen.

first couple of times i put it on, i missed the front clip/slot and it rubbed. if i get it completely seated, and no battery rub there's no problem. also, when i run the eagletree logger, i had been velcroing it to the side of the packs (just because it was no-hassle)...this caused the canopy to bind. otherwise, it fits like a glove.