ORIGINAL: Robinaire
Hi John; I have on several occasions made custom-stroke aircylinders for canopy operation, but seldom knew what mechanism they used for the connection. One of the problems is that the canopy moves up and away from the fuse as it moves back. I'll look in my files and see if I have anything of value on it. It seems like one person did send some info, but that was 8 or 10 years ago!! In the drawing on the site, it is very indistinct, at least on my system, and doesn't seem to be complete. The close-up of the track look a lot like my canopy track. One fellow mentioned a web site for a P-40, but what is the web site??? My track is shown on Jerry Bates plans. Lee Robinson
It is not a problem if the back of the canopy moves up or in the case of the Corsair moves down. You have to make sure that the push rods do not directly attach to the canopy attachment bracket that fits in the square brass slotted tube. This is done with a push pull system. This is my drawings for a system I am going to install in an 82" Corsair. I have made the canopy sliding on a smaller Corsair and have documented that here, on this next one I will use a system similar to the plungers in the drawing. I have not decided on the material for the plungers, but it will probably be made of plastic tube with brass wire. This system would work on a P-51 also. The canopy brackets are slightly rounded at the slot so that they can move slightly up or down as the back of the canopy follows the rear track.
Dion