Windscreen/Skylight

[jeffbock]

Am ready to start the windshield project and not sure how to trim. Have differences of opinion on whether to trim skylight flush with butt ribs or leave an overhang. This is the Super Sport 7 by the way.
Thoughts welcomed on which way has worked for some folks.

[jiott]

I left about 1/8" overhang and in hindsight I would do about 1/4" to make a better rain seal over the joint.
The thing to be real careful about if you do an overhang is to make sure your butt ribs are fitted so the overhanging acrylic will easily slip over the wing fabric when you fold/unfold the wings, otherwise it will dig into the wing fabric and posiibly cut or tear it.

Jim

[AirFox]

I agree with Jim. I left 3/8" over hang. I had to use a paper shim to rotate the wings under the windshield. I plan on tapering the edge of the windshield back to the but rib. Good luck Jeff.

Scott

[n85ae]

It sort of doesn't matter, rain will easily go under it, so with or without the
overlap you'll still get water. If you hardly ever fold your wings (I only do mine
at annual) you could run a bead of silicone sealant along there for a much
better seal ...

Regards,
Jeff

[Dave S]

I elected to simply make the windscreen edge even with the buttrib. I don't see this joint as waterproof in any case. My logic, for better or worse, was if the edges were even, there should never be any stress placed on the windscreen from this source nor any friction on the upper fabric at the rib.

For outside parking and camping, I purchased the fuselage cover which Kitfox sells....excellent product....great addittion to my Kitfox gear.

Dave S
KF7 Trigear
912ULS Warp Drive

[Dorsal]

I did the same as Dave, cover too.

[GaryNo]

I have some detailed pics of a Factory KF LSA and it has the Acrylic trimmed even with the outside edge of the butt rib.I cut mine this way and agree with Dave S.'s line of thinking.Gary

[jeffbock]

Windshield trimming going well and was ready to start drilling some holes when I came up with a dilemma. If I drill through the middle of the capstrip the hole will go into the edge of the butt rib. Hence, no room for the nut . If I drill toward the outside edge of capstrip just enough to allow for the nut to fit up against the butt rib I will be on the edge of the plastic window when enlarging to 1/4" holes. All of my wing rib capstrips are 1" but the capstrip on the butt rib is 5/8".
Any problem with having the mounting holes in plastic being close to edge. And yes, I trimmed even with the edge of butt rib. North Idaho Jeff

[phintz]

Hey Jeff, I just finished the windshield on my series 6 last week. I too cut my windshield flush with the outside egde of the butrib. I drilled my holes on the inside edge of the but rib. This leaves plenty of room for the 1/4 " holes. Good luck and be extremely careful tightening the screws!!!!!!

Patrick
series 6 builder

[GaryNo]

Jeff,Your cap strip on the Butt rip should be 1".The Butt rib is offset to the cap strip,not centered like the other ribs, allowing room for the nut with sufficient room to work with.Make sure you have the left and right Butt rib on the correct side of the fuselage.I hope this helps.

Jeff,It has been some time since I looked at my Butt rib so I have some corrected info.My Butt rib has a 5/8" wide cap strip on the bottom and a 11/16" wide cap strip on the top.The rib is off to one side leaving 3/8" to drill hole for nut and bolt.Keep the nut close to the rib for max edge distance.

[jiott]

This is why some of the guys have been mounting the butt rib with the wider flange to the inside. It allows much greater edge distance from the holes.

Jim

[jeffbock]

Just for the sake of discussion... The latest and greatest I have from Homedale is that the windshield is fastened to inside of boot cowl with fasteners and sealant. Inside the windshield and under the nuts are clips made of .050 AL with slight opening/angle facing up that will be a receptacle for the forward edge of the glareshield. The glare shield is wedged into the clips and secured by the fasteners around edge of instrument panel.
As far as screws attaching skylight portion to capstrip on butt rib, will keep holes as far inward toward rib web as possible and if necessary will remove small amount of plywood to accommodate edge of nut. Yay Dremel.
My education continues.

[jiott]

This is the way I did it. Works great.

Jim

[jrevens]

Just for the sake of discussion... The latest and greatest I have from Homedale is that the windshield is fastened to inside of boot cowl with fasteners and sealant. Inside the windshield and under the nuts are clips made of .050 AL with slight opening/angle facing up that will be a receptacle for the forward edge of the glareshield. The glare shield is wedged into the clips and secured by the fasteners around edge of instrument panel.
As far as screws attaching skylight portion to capstrip on butt rib, will keep holes as far inward toward rib web as possible and if necessary will remove small amount of plywood to accommodate edge of nut. Yay Dremel.
My education continues.

I just came across this thread again. I've been thinking since the very beginning that it would be good to make the glareshield easily removable. Has the builder's manual ever been updated to reflect this change? Anyone have a picture of the "clips" described here by Jeff? I've also thought that fastening the windshield to the boot cowl with screws would be good. How many screws & what spacing has been used? Any pictures that can be shared would be appreciated very much. I sure do wish that when Kitfox finds a different way of doing something that may be better than the previous, that they would share & publish that for the benefit of builders not there yet, and maybe update the building manual. There may be some perceived reasons for not doing that, perhaps legal or otherwise... ?

[jeffbock]

Hi John, If I wasn't very clear let me give it another shot. Windshield attached to bootcowl with two beads of 3M stripping and machine screws.
Under each nut on inside I put my little angle brackets, angled about 20deg. Having them all the way around bootcowl/windscreen matchup allows the glare shield to wedge right in to them. I have 6 screws attaching glareshield to brackets on top of instrument panel. Takes about 1-2 minutes to remove glareshield to access behind panel. 3-4 minutes to reinstall. Happy with what I did!
Am away from home but will look up my photos for you. I have not yet tried to post pictures on Forum so if you want to E me at 747200jock@gmail.com I will send to you. Jeff

[JohnB]

Here are a few pictures of how I did mine.
The first picture shows a strip of acrylic taped under the boot cowl. This was a scrap trimmed from the windshield that allowed me to fit the glare shield without having the whole windshield in the way.

[jrevens]

Jeff - Your description was very clear, I was just thinking a few pictures would be good... I always like to see specifically how others have accomplished things.
Thank you so much!

JohnB - Very good! I like your use of the scrap acrylic.

Again, thank you both very much!

[efwd]

Very nice. Thanks for the photos. Not quite there yet but its helpful to see in photos what it is I have ahead of me.
Eddie

[jrevens]

Where the windshield tucks inside the vertical fuselage angles on both sides, what are most current builders using to cushion/seal between the windshield sides and the fuselage structure, if anything. I am guessing maybe silicone sealant. Is anyone using some of the foam tape as used on the butt ribs?

[Tom Waid]

Where the windshield tucks inside the vertical fuselage angles on both sides, what are most current builders using to cushion/seal between the windshield sides and the fuselage structure, if anything. I am guessing maybe silicone sealant. Is anyone using some of the foam tape as used on the butt ribs?

I used the foam tape and it seems to be working. After having said that, the plane is new. I'll find out how durable this is when I start flying.

[jmodguy]

Anyone have pics of their glareshield prior to install/cutting? Mine does not fit or line up to the cowl AT ALL.
None of the angles work and the lower outside edges are too short...
I cut it up to see if I could get it to work but no such luck. I do admit that mine is from 1995 and may have changed a bit.

[jrevens]

I used the foam tape and it seems to be working. After having said that, the plane is new. I'll find out how durable this is when I start flying.

Thanks, Tom!

[jeffbock]

I have 3 years on my Model 7 and no leaks about the windscreen.
The butt ribs, aft portion of skylight, and inside door frames used the black tape with peel off backing that came with the kit. Windscreen goes inside the vertical doorframe. My windscreen goes inside the bootcowl and I used two separated layers of 3M "strip caulk" part #08578. Torquing down the fasteners will squeeze out the excess and it's easy to clean up.
Like everyone else I probably had the windscreen on and off about 30 times to get the fit right. Keep it warm...
Any more questions I'm sure you will re-post. JeffB

[efwd]

Thanks for that product lead. I was at Aircraft Spruce yesterday and the strip caulk they had on the shelf for months was gone and I couldn't remember what it was so that I could ask the guys at the counter. Now I know, and I can just get it at Home Depot.
Eddie

[jrevens]

Yes, thanks Jeff!