Now for a good challenge. Get the canopy off without breaking it! My current Long-EZ had its canopy broken when it was being built. I bet it was at the stage I’m at now!

Here I’m using one of my favorite tools, an old kitchen knife. While I did tape up the longerons I wasn’t sure where the new canopy frame would be cut so I allowed a couple of inches and I’m releasing the area between the longerons and the new frame with this knife. Again… only possible if you have the hatches cut first.

After over 5 hours work I got the thing off. It was particularly challenging as I have a considerable overlay on the outside canopy frame.

Who cares how hard it was now? Its OFF!!  Move on…

A couple of shots of the turtleback released. Another heads up. My foam was still very thick back here. I could have trimmed it before I put the canopy on. That would have made things a lot easier. I had to cut all the way through the foam from the outside. If you are building I’m sure you wouldn’t fall into this trap.

Here’s another shot of the canopy free. I’m very happy.

The last job tonight was to make a canopy outer frame. The plans have you do this to keep the frames shape while the inside is glassed. I’ve gone one step further and it will work as a holder too with flat bottoms.

I’ve used hot glue to keep the frame on and lots of screws for the bits of wood. I’m also reusing the side pieces I made to do the canopy ledge down the sides. They were an OK fit so get double duty for this job. Good thing I didn’t throw them away!

I have a fellow builder and pilot coming tomorrow so we will get the canopy off together. It is now a two person job.