Rear spar bolt access through rear windshield.

[Pingert]

Hi Don I'am building a #7ss It is a good aircraft practice and one guestion why is the one piece windshield bent up at the back corners

[kitfox2009]

Hi Pingert

Not sure what you mean by "bent up at the back corners". I did not build mine. I was lucky enough to find one that had been built by a much better tradesman than I probably would be!!.
Every success with your build. I am sure you will enjoy the result!

Don

[Dorsal]

I believe the corners are bent up to get at the bolt head for the rear wing attach bolts.

[DesertFox4]

Most I've seen were bent up on the rear corners for a little clearance of the wing when folding so as not to tear into the fabric on the top of the wing.


Holes were drilled in the rear corners of the windshield to facilitate removal of the rear spar attach bolts without removing the windshield. Just did that on my new windshield install a couple weeks ago.

[Pingert]

Would you be kind enough to send me a pic of your installation thanks Rick.

[War Eagle]

I knew I might have a few pictures of this installation that I could share and see if that adds any insight.

I found 4 pictures showing 3 different aircraft and each at a little different angle and point of assembly. You may have to strain a little to see all the detail, but they are there.

Hope this helps you to visualize the turned up ends and the hole drilled in the ends to facilitate removal of the rear wing attach bolts without having to remove the windshield.

[Pingert]

Thank you for the pictures they are worth a thousand words, anyway when I took out the windshield from the box it was cracked bad day well I phoned Debra and no problem and ordered another one right away I still have to pay shipping But that was sure good of them!

[cap01]

debra and john are great people to deal with , have really helped me out with a few problems over the last couple of years.

[cap01]

guess im not real clear on this bent up corner thing . on my model IV the corner is removed just enough to allow the bolt head to pass . must be a longer windshield or something like that .

[DesertFox4]

Had a chance to stop by the airport this morning and get some photos of the rear corners of my windshield. The holes are for facilitating the removal of the rear spar bolts without having to remove or loosen the rear of the windshield.
I don't need my corners bent up to clear my wing fabric over the gas tanks. I have enough clearance. Some need the corners heated and bent up a little so as not to gouge the fabric over the tanks when the wings fold.
Hope this helps.

P.S. I will move these posts to their own thread from the original thread called Filter or Gascolator? KF5 for easier searching in the future.
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[jdmcbean]

The rear corners are bent up for clearance when the wings fold... otherwise the windshield will cut into the fabric on the #1 rib as the wing fold back.

[jtpitkin06]

I notice the windshields are trimmed differently on these aircraft.

On one the windshield extends laterally beyond the outboard edge of the butt rib and overlapping the #1 rib.
On the other, the windshield is trimmed even with the outboard edge of the butt rib.

Anyone have a preference on this?

John Pitkin
Greenville, TX

[HighWing]

John,

I am holding my breath on your question. That is exactly where I am on an LP Aeroplastics windshield. My series V instructions says to trim to the edge of the butt rib, but then again is also says to clecko the windsheild in place so my presumption, it is referring to a Laxan windshield.
My guess is that the overlapping example is a Lexan windshield on a Model IV and that was the original instructions on that model. I think that the Lexan being able to take some pressure without failure, an overlap with a less than perfect fit would work. I suspect with the acrylic windshield it could result in cracks with some pressure from the #1 rib. I hope someone responds soon as that is my task tomorrow - trim the sides.

Lowell

[Dick B in KY]

For what it's worth, I trimmed my LP windshield to the outboard side of the butt ribs and drilled the mounting holes on the inside of the butt rib capstrip. By the way, my aircraft is a SuperSport.

Dick B

[jtpitkin06]

I think I will trim my skylight flush with the outboard edge of the butt ribs as directed in the manual. I can see there might be a chance for the wing to wedge the overhanging plastic when unfolding and cause a crack. I don’t know if wing flex could cause any problems in flight, but it’s best to avoid any.
The only advantage to overlap I can see is slight rain protection at the butt rib to wing rib joint.



Clecos make sense as you'll need to drill the screw holes twice. Once for the screw hole in the rib and again for screw clearance in the plastic to avoid stress points.


JP

[cap01]

this is how the windshield was trimmed on my model IV for access to the aft spar attach bolt .

[jtpitkin06]

Cap01

very clean and neat. Nice detailing.

[cap01]

thanks john , i wish i could take credit for it but i cant .

[Pingert]

Thanks Chuck looks very clean sure helps to see different finishing touchs