After the post cure the canopy was refitted and something seemed to have moved just a little. The canopy line was not quite as perfect as it previously was. Only a millimeter or so, but changed, or maybe it had already changed and I missed it.

It seemed to fit back on OK.

Can you see the canopy line is just a fraction out now?

There seemed to be a little bulge in the canopy frame side too. Maybe it was always there?

What followed was about 11 hours all up playing with that little piece of paper. I found when I sat in the back of the plane I could see the location pin on one side was preventing the canopy from closing an extra .25″ or so. I ended up drilling out the receiver fitting and I’ve ordered a new one.

The next thing was to see where the canopy was now hitting the side preventing a ‘deeper closure. If the paper jammed I needed to sand that area of the frame bottom. Over time I got it closing the missing 0.25″. In fact over a lot of time and a lot of sanding and fiddling all around where the frame touched the fuselage.

Eventually I got the canopy closing a little bit more than before, which means a thinner piece of rubber when I get to doing the seals.

I hadn’t finished the fill and sand at the back here before the post cure either. This is probably a good thing given the ‘slight’ adjustment required.

Here you can see its getting closer again and of course another fill and sand cycle. Its hard to believe I spent the whole weekend just getting my ‘fit’ back again.

Oh and I removed and refitted the canopy hardware too, several times. The canopy latch seems to be working a lot better now. The canopy seems to swing more freely and the pins for the nose hatches slide in better. Maybe it was the post cure magic?

Its Monday night and I’ve spent another day on careful fill and sand. Yes I’ve been working on the nose and hatches at the front of the plane as well.

Both areas will need a few more fill/sand cycles too as I edge closer to the real paint prep work.