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Canopy
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:15 am
by klingon
Anyone got any thoughts about a new canopy for K7?-I seem to recall that someone has an original one hanging around somewhere-If we can blag it that is!-otherwise what road do we follow?Original plexiglass as in 1967 or a modern material,less liable to suffer uv damage and scratching-or have I just committed sacrilege? I vaguely remember from my Raf days canopies at that time had a service life measured in months because of the materials used-mebbe not a good idea with Bluebird which will probably be under the usual cost constraints and a few grand a year for a replacement bubble top might be a bit too much!
Re: Canopy
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:32 pm
by huszarail
Got to agree, someone's got quite a task ahead.
It started me thinking that in the U.S.A in the late 60's there was a trend in Hot Rod circles to build cars with bubble tops. Seems some still do it. Check out the link, it may spur some ideas or reveal some useful technique.
http://www.autobodynews.com/rich-evans/ ... t-rod.html
Mark.
Re: Canopy
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:12 pm
by Renegadenemo
You're all on the right track. We have a handy American on the case.
Re: Canopy
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 2:22 am
by klingon
klingon wrote:Anyone got any thoughts about a new canopy for K7?-I seem to recall that someone has an original one hanging around somewhere-If we can blag it that is!-otherwise what road do we follow?Original plexiglass as in 1967 or a modern material,less liable to suffer uv damage and scratching-or have I just committed sacrilege? I vaguely remember from my Raf days canopies at that time had a service life measured in months because of the materials used-mebbe not a good idea with Bluebird which will probably be under the usual cost constraints and a few grand a year for a replacement bubble top might be a bit too much!
Being the owner of a Messerschmitt buuble car-(don't ask!)-I know that theres a mob in Germany who make replacement bubble tops for them for a lot of Euros-mayhap I can find out if they can do a one off or two or three off in K7's case-(most of the cost is in the tooling)
Unless someone in the project has a back door into Plexicorp in the USA?
Unless we can find out who done the bubble for Fab 1 in thunderbirds!
Re: Canopy
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 4:33 pm
by speedboatstuart
The old canopy is at filching manor but it is only the front screen which was a fixed piece, as part of the hinged piece broke up during a test run nearly deafening DMC , fortunately he managed to shut the beryl down before the canopy was ingested through the engine hence why the norris brothers had fitted the new domed canopy, this was done at the same time that the hull profile was changed to the swepped design it is now using the graduated outriggers.
Re: Canopy
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 7:27 pm
by Renegadenemo
The fixed part of the hinge for that flip-up canopy arrangement was still lurking inside the air intake assembly riveted in its original position. It's unusual in that it was made of steel. They'd filed its front edge as flush as they could get it to where the sliding canopy rear frame was fixed then covered it in. We'll put it back one day.
Re: Canopy
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 11:49 pm
by speedboatstuart
Thats interesting i suppose it would have been easier to leave the steel strip there rather than try to dismantle the intake assembly, it must have been very well embedded then as not to have been removed when they had to rebuild the intakes in 66. So if the hinge strip is on the boat still and the front part of the screen is at filton manor did anybody keep the flip up section of the screen ?
Re: Canopy
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 10:49 am
by KW Mitchell
Bill - Bay Plastics (one of your sponsors, I see) pulled me a canopy for my Hawker Hunter some time back. Talking to the guy down there - whose name I forget - he said they'd just done a fullsize bubble canopy for a Spitfire (I saw the Ali' epoxy mould) ------------.
Re: Canopy
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 1:22 pm
by Renegadenemo
Bay Plastics have agreed to make the canopy and we have a Boeing designer working on the tooling... The job's in hand.
Re: Canopy
Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 4:30 pm
by Excelsior2007
speedboatstuart wrote:The old canopy is at filching manor but it is only the front screen which was a fixed piece, as part of the hinged piece broke up during a test run nearly deafening DMC , fortunately he managed to shut the beryl down before the canopy was ingested through the engine hence why the norris brothers had fitted the new domed canopy, this was done at the same time that the hull profile was changed to the swepped design it is now using the graduated outriggers.
Always did wonder what happened to the original canopy. Learned something new that I didn't know before.