38-28 -> 31: Canopy Fibreglass Fairing - Round 2 - Fibreglass Preperation

Preparing the templates

Van's sends some paper templates with the kit, for the curved side sections of the canopy fairing. One part of the template delineates where the forward fairing line should be marked. There is another template which outlines "Ply A" - which is the curved piece of glass on each side. However, i found that the template for "Ply A" did not match the actual canopy fairing shape very well at all. I decided to make my own "Ply A" template instead, using a sheet of clear plastic. 

This shows how different Van's Ply A template was to the one i used.

This fit much better.

Cutting out the Fibreglass

To cut out the fibreglass, i setup a thin 5mm sheet of MDF on my bench and aligned my roll of 9oz glass cloth using a very long ruler. I made sure the weave was parallel to the ruler. I started out by cutting all the straight pieces referenced in the plans. 

I found it easiest to mark the board for the required width of glass, then lay the ruler so it was sitting on the piece of glass which would be cut off. This kept it flat and stopped it curling up as i cut.When i placed it on the 'roll side' of the cut, the small strips would curl up and fall apart. With the ruler on the "piece side" - it worked heaps better. 

I then used the templates for Ply A, B & C to cut the curved pieces. These were cut on the 45 degree bias as per the plans. "Ply A" was cut oversize, as this will be cut to final size once the epoxy is applied. These were rolled up to prevent them coming apart at the edges.

"Ply D" was cut straight, but at a 45 degree bias to the cloth. 

Ply A was cut oversize.

The canopy was all masked up, and the next step is to actually apply the first layers of the fairing. There is a layer of sacrificial masking tape over the electrical tape, which will be removed once the fairing is laid up, but before it cures.