Raven/Hawk Fiberglass Canopies

[Ray Fernandez]

I am in the process of having a Century Raven Fiberglass canopy painted by AceHelis. So far, the canopy is looking pretty good.

When I first inquired about a paint job, AceHelis asked why the Raven canopy was not a one-peice canopy. I told him that the canopy was made that way and that the windshield was a smoked plastic peice that would need to be trimmed to fit the canopy.

So I was wondering (and should someone from Century be reading this post) if Century (Heli-World) will ever produce a one-peice Raven/Hawk canopy, just like the more recent Predator and Freestyle canopies.

I am pretty sure there are others out there that would love to get these Raven/Hawk canopies in one-peice configuration, most especially for doing some nice paint schemes on it.

What do you think?

[RAV50]

Personally I prefer the looks of canopies with a see through windshield rather then one with a painted motif on that area.

And I also like the advantage of being able to see the electronics, without taking off the canopy, during a quick preflight check...it also allows me to read the screens of the GV-1 gov's or the one with a number of different gyros etc.

But I think they certainly would be able to sell one piece units to others if they had them.

[Ray Fernandez]

Although I do like the idea of seeing my electronics too, the one-peice canopies would be a good thing for painters.

[RAV50]

Yes, the artistic painters all seem to prefer the solid one piece canopies, as they give them a larger pallet to paint on.

Personally I would like to see more creative paint jobs on some two piece units. I had a friend many years ago who did some wonderfully creative paint schemes on his two piece canopies, where the windscreen became part of the theme. They were works of art. Unfortunately he got out of helicopters and moved into turbines...which also have some fantastically creative paint schemes on them also.