Misc Canopy Items / Painted Tail wheel Fork

Cutting the Canopy is the next piece of work and it is huge..  I won't have a lot of bulk time to spend for a while, plus the weather needs to get hot before I start cutting the Plexi..  Also, Seattle is the coldest place on the planet right now so in the meantime I am working on some other misc items..  The good news is I borrowed some Plexi bits from a fellow builder and am practicing on plexi-glass in the meantime, so I should be ready to roll when I get a chance to take a crack at the canopy..

So I have been able to finish the forward latch assembly completely.  It turned out great..  With the UMHV tape in between the angles, there is no scratching on the actuator..  The action is smooth and efficient.   Plus I drilled a hole in the exterior portion of the arm, and can use a mini paddle lock to lock up the RV.  Many builders do this since there is no doors on the plane.  (Even though the novice wouldn't even know how to open the latch anyway..  Best to have some sort of deterrent to keep people honest)

I also worked on the canopy security latch mod, by adding a spring to the mechanism, this will pull the latch up and keep it from twisting accidentally when nobody is inside the plane.  If it twists, it could lock the canopy shut with no way to ever open it up again from the outside..  This will save me from that headache..

Also, I painted and finished up the Doug Bell tail wheel for and greased up the whole assembly.  Its beautiful and I can't wait to get the plane rolling around sometime soon..  Probably next year.  ;-)