9 & 10 Jun 2024

Fitted the canopy in position and carefully drilled and cleco'd it. I have a nice even fit. I hit a snag with 3 holes at the top - the parachute cables are right under the fiberglass shell and prevent drilling and the installation of rivets. It looks like the parachute skins do not have rivets in this position, but since I have the non-parachute skins with a parachute cable-equipped canopy there is an issue. I am checking what to do with Sling Technical, I suspect that there is no need to install these rivets and that I can simply fill the holes and move on - the others fit fine.

Removed the canopy again and deburred the holes inside and outside and countersunk the front three holes on each side. Drilled the side rails to accommodate the reinforcement brackets I fabricated to go around the inside of the canopy cables.