F10 Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Anyone know where I could get a windscreen made, or is there a way to bend a piece of Lexan to fit? My windshield is ok, but it has a stop drilled crack in the top RH corner. The crack has had a rectangle of thin plastic glued over it, so has been well repaired I think, but it still looks a bit second hand. Fortunately the thick piece of Perspex making up the roof looks pretty new. I replaced the decking windows, a fairly simple and fun job. Remember to label all the supports with "L or R, front, back" with masking tape, as they need to go back in the same place to fit the rivet holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thruster88 Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Looking at pictures it appears to be just flat lexan that has been curved to fit the frame not unlike a thruster screen. Lexan is very easy to work with and tuff, just dont spill fuel on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 I suspect you could be right. But it does seem to be shaped into quite a tight radius around the wing root area. I don’t think Alexander is all that expensive, so might give it a go. Will a heat gun soften it a bit? Will probably have to be quite careful with that....! The Lexan I used in the rear deck was from “Bunnings Aerospace”....🤓it was a bit thicker, so maybe a bit heavier.....😤 but it has made the deck feel a lot more rigid, swings and roundabouts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 They are easy to change out. When I did mine I placed the old screen over the new piece drilled the corner holes and installed Cleco’s and drilled the other holes. Holes need to be over size so the swelled / pulled rivet doesn’t crack the screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 Ok....I did think the wing root area looked like they had a hole drilled in for forming around the bend there. In fact my windscreen seems to have cracked in the top corner. One thing about the Skyfox screen is it is pretty vertical....must have quite a bit of dynamic pressure build up at speed? I looked at maybe putting more “rake” if fitting a new screen, but not possible with the oil tank filler lid position. Not to mention it will probably be considered a major modification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 F10 I’ll did up an image or 2 when I changed mine out years ago. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planesmaker Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 2mm polycarbonate (lexan) is used for windscreen. It forms around ok yes a little tight in the corners. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 9 minutes ago, planesmaker said: 2mm polycarbonate (lexan) is used for windscreen. It forms around ok yes a little tight in the corners. When I got some 2mm polycarb for my windscreen I asked if it could handle the tight turn around the top fuse bar. The woman working there said that she saw the guys out the back put a 6mm piece in a bending brake and put a 90 degree bend in it with no radius - and it handled that fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 1 minute ago, Marty_d said: When I got some 2mm polycarb for my windscreen I asked if it could handle the tight turn around the top fuse bar. The woman working there said that she saw the guys out the back put a 6mm piece in a bending brake and put a 90 degree bend in it with no radius - and it handled that fine! It might....but I won’t 🤪🤪Wow, ok, will give it a go I guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 3 hours ago, F10 said: ... Will a heat gun soften it a bit? Will probably have to be quite careful with that... All good advice, F10. It might be easy enough to bend a 2mm Lexan sheet into place, but over time it may develop tiny stress cracks that affect visibility. It’s also softer than Perspex so will scratch more easily. If you really need to heat-form it, the compound forming temperature is 130C IIRC- but not something to rush into. Polycarbonate absorbs water and needs to be carefully dried out before heating. I discovered this the hard way. Try cooking overnight at 60C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 On 11/05/2021 at 9:14 PM, Blueadventures said: Looking good! Like your yellow wings and blue fuselage, always enjoyed that US Navy type colour scheme. Yep the problem is that small radius curved area near the wing leading edge pins….I can appreciate you can get stress cracks there over time. Haven’t got around to this yet, not a big priority at this stage. I see it appears you have modded your fuel tank breather pipes, facing into wind. I think the original design is quite good but has tight tolerances so needs checking for blockages. I always blow through them to check. I have heard some Gazelles can suck fuel from one tank more than the other, which can be a bit worrisome in flight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 1 minute ago, F10 said: Looking good! Like your yellow wings and blue fuselage, always enjoyed that US Navy type colour scheme. Yep the problem is that small radius curved area near the wing leading edge pins….I can appreciate you can get stress cracks there over time. Haven’t got around to this yet, not a big priority at this stage. I see it appears you have modded your fuel tank breather pipes, facing into wind. I think the original design is quite good but has tight tolerances so needs checking for blockages. I always blow through them to check. I have heard some Gazelles can suck fuel from one tank more than the other, which can be a bit worrisome in flight! The old one is the stress cracked one, the new was all good. Very easy cut and fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) Ok! So confirm, Lexan, about 3 mm thick? 1 m square? Edited October 1, 2021 by F10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 12 minutes ago, F10 said: Ok! So confirm, Lexan, about 3 mm thick? 1 m square? Not sure of size, as in image bought an over size piece and cut out of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 Yep, I planned to use the old screen as a template. But thickness, I recon about 3mm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 27 minutes ago, F10 said: Yep, I planned to use the old screen as a template. But thickness, I recon about 3mm? I think it was 2mm from memory. I did same for same thickness. You will see when you have the cowl off as you will see the thickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 Funny about the unbalance of fuel use in Gazelles. It seems to happen to some pilots more than others. See if you can get it to fly wings level. You might have to muck around with a few Tabs. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F10 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, facthunter said: Funny about the unbalance of fuel use in Gazelles. It seems to happen to some pilots more than others. See if you can get it to fly wings level. You might have to muck around with a few Tabs. Nev Assumption my aircraft has this problem…it doesn’t in fact. Could be, but I’m pretty sure I’m wings level in flight, most of the time anyway. In the Gazelle, you don’t adjust a tab, but rather a set of thin cables and a spring, which bias the stick aileron neutral point, left or right. Quite a neat little system. Edited October 1, 2021 by F10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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