Canopy Woes. Don't do this!

[Scott Todd]

I bought a Onex project from a dear friend that ran into medical issues. I've had it about 2 years and am nearing completion. About the last thing to do was to check the canopy and fit one of Peter Anson's latches based on Fritz original design. I hadn't actually seen or taken the canopy out of the box until a few day ago. It was a good fit and he did a nice job.

I researched the heck out of drilling in it to make the 5/8 hole required for Peter's latch. I used some soapy water, a few drops of Dawn in some tap water, for lubricant. I took my time and spent about 20 minutes drilling the hole. It came out really nice. I tinkered with the parts for about 30 minutes and noticed as the water dried, it left a film, presumably the soap. I grabbed a bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol in a small spray bottle to rinse it off and blast the chips out of the frame. I turned my back and started hearing popping noises. I turned around to see this!

I was devastated. DON'T do this! I had no idea. A little Googling after the fact clearly shows Alcohol and Acrylic don't mix. I finished the latch and will watch what happens. I would like to get it flying before I change it. The windshield has a blemish from original builder and needs replaced also. I was going to wait thinking I may have an oops learning to re-fuel. Its a bit embarrassing but I wanted to share to maybe prevent another builder form a similar mistake.

Scott

[rick9mjn]

thanks............please thank , about moving this idea / post to the ""lessons learned" section
good day / rick

[pappas]

Scott,
That is a shame. Another thing for builders to avoid is to use anything like Locktite on those screws that attach the canopy or windshield to their frames. The same thing will happen.

[Scott Todd]

Good idea Rick. I posted a blurb over in Lessons Learned but an Admin can delete/move this over if they like.

[XenosN42]

Sorry to see your cracked canopy. On the other hand the paint job and decals look great.

I have found that the best thing to use on the canopy and windscreen is WATER. Pure clean water. If I get a drop of fuel on the windscreen I just pour a little water on it right away. I've never had any crazing or cracks.

[ldmill]

I had a friend of mine who had suntan lotion on his right arm set it on the inside of my right upper longeron and against the canopy/frame during a 1 hour flight. I didn't notice it immediately and about 2 days later found a whole bunch of 1/4" long horizontal cracks (probably around 50 or so) right where his forearm leaned against it. There are probably 40-50 small cracks in a 4" x 2" area. They all go partially through from inside out, but none go all the way through. This happened after the canopy had been in place for about 100 hours flight hours. It is the newer blend of canopy material. 6 years and 250 flight hours later they are still there and the cracks have not propagated any further. I've cleaned the canopy many times and bumped this area in normal wear and tear and it doesn't appear to have been dramatically compromised - but I'm waiting.
I now warn all passengers to make sure they don't have any suntan lotion on - or wear a long sleeve shirt if they do. I'm not 100% positive that this is from the lotion, but highly suspicious of it. And no, I don't know what brand of lotion he was using.

Lorin

[Direct C51]

Benn there, it sucks. http://sonexbuilders.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3898 It's unfortunate that you didn't see my post several years ago about isopropyl and canopies. I'll rebuild it someday...