Bob I really like you idea to link the air cylinder to the landing gear, it should work great. Can you install the air cylinder under the canopy to work a slider instead of behind it ?. I never built a P47 therefore I really don,t know what I am talking about here. My canopy is servo operated via one of the auxiliary channels, but if I do it again I would definitely consider an air cylinder, since it is much more simpler system. I could only stuff a very small air tank in my plane which is only good for two gear rotation, putting additional cylinder was not really very practical, but on a 1/4 scale there is plenty of room to play around.