szempruw

Before I sealed up the back end, I thought it prudent to work on the sliding canopy. My thanks to forum members who responded for suggestions, especially Leroy Gardner. I goaled to use the canopy itself to form the turtle deck. I used balsa sheeting to form the bottom. The drawings give and idea how I did it. I insert molded 1/2" x 1/16" aluminum frame work into a lite two-part epoxy mix from Smooth-On. Very nice product and can be colorized black. The canopy rails are slit 1/4" sq. aluminum. The canopy split area will be cut once the canopy is glued in place. A separator piece of plastic will allow the framework to come apart. I found some small 2x5x2.5 mm bearings that fit nicely onto 2-56 screws put into cut-down control horns. These fit nicely into the 1/4" aluminum rails and helps the framework slide easily. I decided to use a Firgelli linear actuator and that fitment prompted me to dry fit the Dbalsa cockpit accessories. Again, all this was done so I could figure out the actuator travel before I closed up the back bottom end with sheeting. Building the sliding canopy prompted a side build excursion into the details of the cockpit interior. This will be a post by itself.