2006-May-21

The canopy skirt under construction. The two side pieces are rectangles, about 6 inches high by 40 long. The front piece is mocked up here in white poster board. Notice how the bubble bulges to the side, sort of like an F-16. I wasn't wild about it at first but now I'm thinking it'll give me more head room.

2006-Dec-29

The finished item. The view from the inside shows a half-inch gap between the front of the bubble and the skirt, which is of course purely unintentional. Matching the skirt to the bubble wasn't easy.

2007-Nov-18

The front crossmember of the canopy frame rubbed the gas gage so I decided to modify it for clearance. Put the canopy upside down on saw horses, put a tarp under the crossmember to catch any spatter, and begin cutting and welding. Funny odor while I'm working, it must be some paint in the weld area that I missed during prep. Finish welding, take off the hood, have a look around, AAARRRRGGGHHHH! - burn holes through the plastic bubble! The spatter must have rolled down the tarp, which wasn't level and didn't extend very far past the work area, off the edge and onto the plastic. You can see the tracks where it rolled around before coming to rest and melting through. I could have cried.

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