thanks, PJ.

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Canopy functional system (cont)

pic 1:
The 4" air cylinders came in, today.
They are by SMC and I ordered them from Fastenal

http://www.fastenal.com

I put in my zip code and found one very close to me.
The SMC part that I ordered is NCJ2B10-400.
(the 10 is mm and 3/8" bore and the 400 is also mm and is 4" stroke.)
The air nipples weren't in the package and Fastenal ordered them and they will be in tomorrow.
I'll put that part in the web, tomorrow.
They are $18.50 each plus $8 shipping from California.
I got four since I'll need them for my comp-arf F4U.
The air cylinders needed nipples: part number is 1/8X10-32strmalecon (control number 0400044).
They were $1.77 each and connect like those used on jets where the air line is pushed into a hole and metal prongs along the inside grab the air line and to release the air line, you push on a rim that is around the air line.
If you can't find a Fastenal near you, you can call where I went and ask for Jeremy at 513-759-6650 and I'm sure he'll order them and then mail them to you.

The air cylinders have no mounting brackets so I used some thin brass sheeting and cut them 1 1/2" long, bent them around the cylinder, bent a tab on each end, drilled holes in each side and will use #0 screws to hold them to those 1/16" thick ply in the picture.
The air cylinders are a total of 7" long in the compressed stage.
I'll also be using Sullivans gold-n-rod #504 to connect the canopy to the air cylinders.
I was initially going to have the air cylinder push rod just go down the center of the main brass guide but that's not going to work.

pic 2:
I also was going to use a thin piece of wire to connect the canopy to the air cylinder but I thought of a better solution.
I'm using some 2-56 pull-pull couplers, drilled out a hole in the non threaded end and tapped a 0-80 thread so I can screw a small brass screw through the inner 5/32' square brass guide.

pic 3-5:
Here's the yellow push rod connected to the inner brass guide with the #0 brass screw.
I'm using the brass screw because I don't think I can get a bend wire into the hole on the inner brass guide.

pic 6:
Viewed from the bottom.

pic 7:
This is my present concept: bend the yellow rod (with the red outer tube holding it in place) and connect it to the air cylinder located on the bottom of the cockpit floor.

pic 8:
Since I'm having the yellow rod bend on each side, I'm going to have to cut 'alleys' on each side of my service tray to make room for the yellow rod.
Not exactly as I had planned (guessed!) but it should work...hopefully.
Tonight, I'm taking the P-47 to our club meeting so it'll give me some time to sleep on this concept.
Any ideas are welcomed.