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Q-talk 159 - Reg Clarke Canopy Latch System

by Reg Clarke

[ EDITOR'S NOTE: Reg Clarke from Canada may be very short on words, but I'm guessing from the look of his highly modified Q2, that he spends more time working on it than talking about it! (Is there a lesson is here?) He sent me nearly 100 images of his mods, and because that is too many pictures for a single page to load easily, I broke them up into a feature over the last few issues.

In this issue, we'll take a closer look at his highly ingenious canopy latch system. In the final installment in Q-Talk 160 we'll see how he installed the 150 Cubic Inch 150 HP Turbo Subaru.

He also wanted to let everyone know that this bird is now FOR SALE! If you have specific questions about purchasing this beautiful Q please contact Reg via e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ]

 

Canopy latching

I have several new pictures of my canopy latch it works great, simple design easy to use.

A Lancair Handle

Handle on outside is attached through fuselage, this is a tube of 4130 behind bulkhead left to right that rotates.

You can see cable with turn buckle to latch pin on left side of this cable.

Springs left and right side, are to keep pins out and into canopy to secure it. 4130 1/8" flat cut and welded to 4130 tube one on each side of the canopy.

Pins are pulled into hole because inside latch is locked open. This is by left side of the pilot's head. It's easy to open with left hand over shoulder.

The bushing bearing around pin is from aircraft spruce. It is a slider bearing.

Pins Out

You can see the 4130 tube left to right behind bulkhead along top.

Pin Bushing.

Lancair handle and canopy latch. Lock handle is attached to the 4130 tubing. Pushing the handle down retracts the canopy pins to release. Springs pull canopy pins back to their extended positions.

Handle Locks

That triangle metal with the holes is inside of the lock. It swings up and next to where pin is attached on back to stop pins from being pulled out or back. It swings up and ahead next to pin

Pin Holes in Canopy Frame

Left Canopy Pin Hole

Typical forward opening canopy.

Pins Retracted.