Carf-Models Composite-ARF Yak-55 SP Instruction Manual page 20

Composite-ARF Yak-55 SP (2.6m span)
space between the plywood plates and fuselage is com-
pletely filled with epoxy.
Drill a 3mm hole through the side of the fuselage in the cen-
tre of the 4 front and rear mounting plates only (not the mid-
dle 2 plates). Take the 4 plywood rectangles with the milled
holes, and glue the four M3 blind nuts in place with 30
minute epoxy. Bolt the 4 plates inside the plywood plates
that are glued inside the fuselage with M3 x 12 bolts, so
that the top of the plates stick up through the milled slots in
the fuselage by 5mm. Cut off excess length if necessary.
Put some clear tape around all 6 slots on the fuselage and
frame and wax these areas carefully, without getting wax
on the plywood plates. Sand the areas around the 6 slots
inside the canopy frame with rough sandpaper. Clamp and
tape the canopy frame in place and then glue the 4 plywood
parts to the canopy frame with 30 minute epoxy and some
milled glassfibre.
Slide in the 2 centre guides (20 x 20mm plywood squares,
no hole) and glue them to the canopy frame with 30 min
epoxy and milled-fibre also. These centre guides just make
sure the middle of the canopy frame stays aligned properly
with the edges of the fuselage. If the joint area was waxed
carefully, you can take off the canopy frame in about 1 hour.
Fitting the clear canopy into the frame is a little bit tricky, but
this is a step by step guide of how to do it successfully:
Sand the inside edges of the canopy frame carefully with
rough sandpaper, to ensure a perfect fit of the canopy
inside. Lay the canopy on top of the frame, and mark the
rough shape with a felt pen or wax crayon. Cut
the outer border of the clear canopy with
sharp scissors, about 12mm (1/2") too big all
around. Unless you are in a very warm room,
we recommend that the canopy is slightly
warmed up with a hair dryer to prevent crack-
ing - but be careful not to melt or deform it!
When the canopy fits inside the frame rough-
ly, mark the final cut line on the clear plastic.
Then cut it to exact shape with a 6 mm over-
lap all around.
Make several hand-holds with paper masking
tape (see photo) to make holding and posi-
tioning the canopy easy. Push the canopy up
tightly inside the back of the frame and fix the
bottom 2 back corners with one drop of slow
CA each (ZAP-O or Plasti-ZAP recommend-
ed).
techsupport@composite-arf.com
(above) The back 2 plywood
tongues bolted in place to the
fuselage, ready for gluing into the
canopy frame
(below) The position of the slots in
the canopy frame.
plywood plate
M3 x 12 bolt
fuselage side
CANOPY FRAME FIXING
17
canopy frame
plywood plate
epoxy glue
M3 blind nut