Time to fit the new rollover. The angle iron part was far from straight so it was an hour or so with the rubber mallet and clamps trying to get something like a straight edge. I came close.

After looking at a lot of other peoples pics I decided where exactly the rollover will sit and I marked it out. Then a while cutting out the previous top and hardpoints I’d made for the plans rollover. That’s out the window now, It turns out I will use some of that structure so its all good. I might go for a screw on top…we’ll confirm this idea tomorrow 🙂

As you can see I’ve had to inlay the rollover angle into the longeron. That was done with a small dremel router, long wood chisel and a flat permagrit file.

Tomorrow I’ll add some BID plies just to close out the gaps of a 1-2mm or so. This only strengthens the longerons a little so I’m fine with that. I may end up trimming the length of the angle iron part too. There is still a bit of work to secure this to the sides and it now seems I’ll have to add a few fasteners that go vertically just to ensure the rollover sits flush for a good and repeatable canopy seal.

Overall this is a fun job that should be done in a few days. Then I can get on with measuring the proposed canopy size and get some quotes. I really like working on the plane when decisions are clear and its just…work. Indecision, or rather the processes of working out how to do something, eats time and is this project’s biggest delay item.

Longeron cutaway

Careful fit

Center part also removed