The outside canopy frame layups are:- 1. BID overall 2. BID overall, 3. UND sides 4. BID front and rear and 5. UND sides. I did the two ply front and back yesterday and the rest today. It is surprising how much glass and epoxy is used for this frame. I went with full length pieces and spent quite a while cutting out the glass and getting it all ready.

I did all the layups with foil.They are quite long and awkward pieces but really easy to put in place in this format. It might have been a real mess trying to do it with dry glass wetted out in place.

I did the front BID pieces at the sides as yesterdays and then added another two ply curved BID layup at the front of the canopy and just over the IP. I think this will help make the frame at the nose a little stiffer. I also have concerns that the area over the IP may be weaker than usual given I’m making a removable panel. With this in mind I have extra layers of glass just forward of the IP and at the sides.

Here are things after the peel ply. It was a real race to get all the layups done before the initial ones started to cure.

Here’s the turtleback which ends up with three ply of BID and capturing a 3″ overlap of the side UND and BID layups. The outside of the frame is now done and the next step is to cut the canopy and frame off above the longerons after a good long cure for all that glass. It should be an ‘interesting’ exercise.