FINISHING KIT - Page 43.

May 6, 2004:  These last few days seem to all be "milestone" days.  I have not done a lot, but the visual effects and boost to my morale are good.  Here are the latest four photos from yesterday showing the work to get the canopy frame ready to fit to the fuselage.  As you can see, the frame is sitting in place for the first time on the slider rail at the rear and the roller channels at the sides.  The slider rail is secured, but the roller tracks are floating for now.  The total construction time now stands at 1045.4 hours.

The rear view shows the slider rail attached and the difference in height of the roll bar and the canopy frame.

Here are two photos showing both sides of the canopy frame, roller tracks, roll bar, and the fuselage sides.  The shaping of the canopy frame must be accomplished to bring both roller channels into alignment at the correct locations.  The fit of the canopy to the windshield will also be a part of this work.  Some builders think this part of the construction is the most difficult of the entire airplane.

Fortunately, my business travels will take me to the state of Washington for a seminar where I will be an instructor.  With the ridiculously LOW airfare that I have found that requires a Saturday night stay over, I will have a chance to go down to Van's Aircraft factory south of Portland, Oregon.  With any luck, I hope to be able to see the Van's prototype RV-9A to study some of the canopy installation techniques up close.  I will also have a chance to talk with the technical advisors on some details as well.   All that should occur on May 17, 2004.  I will keep you posted, and of course, there will be some photos of the occasion to post in a special section of this web site.

And no, just so you know, that day won't all be personal time, I have a dinner business meeting with a customer that same evening to show our latest product.  And for the ultimate coincidence:  I have another independent cable system owner/operator there in Oregon who is also a pilot -- A very SPECIAL PILOT!    He is Mike Seager, the Van's Aircraft flight instructor who gives transition flight training to RV builders.   He owns and operates the cable television system in Vernonia, Oregon.

May 31, 2004 - My 57th birthday.  I spent much of the day working on my airplane of course.   This was Memorial Day weekend and it was a good one for catching up on the RV-9A project.  For those of you who missed it, here is the link to my abbreviated travels to Oregon and Washington earlier in the month.  As far as what has been happening in the past three days, you need to move on to page 44!