Time to address the rear of the canopy. I have an idea to make a bulkhead here. That should give the area a lot of strength and I hope keep it stable. Certainly better than the plans arrow stock for such a big canopy.

Here’s where I left things. That blue foam had to go.

Here we are down to the bare glass and I started thinking about improving the join between the canopy and the cut piece of turtleback. All they are is butted together with a ply of glass on the outside at this stage.

Next up I started worrying about glassing this area without a final check. It was pretty flimsy at the rear end without all that blue foam. I phoned around and my good friend Frank Papa was able to drop in and help me lift the canopy onto the fuselage for a fit check despite being busy. It was just a tiny bit out and I moved the canopy a fraction and added the bit of timber you see above to the canopy frame. Now it was spot on. Thanks Frank.

I decided that 3 plies of BID can overlap the frame and perspex by .5″ or more. I added flox for the step between the frame and canopy so the glass will transition well.

That dark area above is the overlap. So I now have the canopy captured in glass top and bottom. GOOD! With the peel ply removed tomorrow I can begin the bulkhead build at this end which is certainly not per plans. I think it may work very well on a number of levels.