RE: Extreme Flight 87" Yak 54 - Build & Fly
Bummer... Can't believ you had two go bad... I've got them on 2-3 or my planes without issues...
A LOT of people have made the hatch latch mode without any issues at all... I had several flights on mine before I sold it and my buddy has a lot more on his. And I'm talking violent snaps, snaps from/to knife edge, spins, walls, etc...
The trick is to remove the vertical pin (it's just tapped and threaded. and then RED loctite it after final assembly so it doesn't come apart via vibration.
If you set it up to have maximum penetration though the canopy and loctitie the latch, you shouldn't have any problems at all...
The trick is to install it so that the pin when FULLY pulled back is JUST flush with the canopy back. This way it penetrates the canopy at it's maximum length and then some.
Your reports seem to me as if there was binding when you latched it, and that stress alone will wear the plastic out. If there is binding it can alos put a strain on the pin and perhaps it could snap at the hole it's tapped into.
Still a good way to prevent that possible problem is to wrap the latch and plate with a thin strip of fiberglass and epoxy. (Don't get any in the slot)
Mine, when finished, had no binding whatsoever. I just laid the canopy in place and the pin pooped in with no force. that's the alignment you need to not overstrss the latch.
Too bad noone makes a nice machined aluminum latch...