Although my updates have been slow coming, progress has been happening on the project. I decided to tackle the canopy cutting and fitting tasks. The polycarbonate canopy comes a single piece. It must be cut into two pices, the windscreen and the bubble canopy which slides forward and aft for access to the cockpit. I have researched this task quite a lot and figure I am prepared to make the big cut. All advise indicates a warm shop is mandatory to prevent cracks. Through the process of making the big cut and subsequent cuts I kept the shop in the 75 to 80 degree range. This seemed to be adequate as I did not experience any problems. I used the thin cut off wheel that Vans provides in the kit along with my die grinder to do the work. This month’s safety topic was Hand Safety. Mother NOVA handed out kelvar work gloves for anyone who could last throught the safety meeting without falling asleep. I thought that canopy cutting would be a good workout for the gloves. Great gloves, stay cool, good grips and protect from cuts.

Once cut I used my variable speed belt sander with 120 grit belt to clean the cut line up. I finished the cut lines up with 220 and finally 400 grit wetdry paper to remove all the scratches (and potential stress points).