Yak 54 Canopy cracking

[dmckeller]

Hey Tony,

WHile I was putting my 37.5% Yak 54 up from a great day at the flying fieldyesterday, I noticed that the lexan has popped loose and cracked at the rear base area of the canopy assembly. The plane has only had 14 flights so far. Anyway this version is the green and black one from Chief Aircraft. Are there replacement canopies available for my color scheme. Chief only list cowls and wheelpants. I would apprecite your help. I will attempt to repair it so that is doesn't get worse, but I would like to purchase a replacement if possible.

Thank you,
Doug

[ljaganna]

I had the same thing happen to my 37.5% Pilot Yak as well....except it happened on flight 24....too new to break.
I think the lexan material is just too thin IMHO.....I hope I can get a replacement from Pilot RC.
Where did you find your replacement?

[nickb]

Stop drill it at the end of the crack to keep it from spreading. A little piece of fiberglass and clear epoxy would fix it, but not look too pretty.

[chadvoelkel]

yep stop drill and i use ca

[ljaganna]

I got a replacement canopy from Pilot RC. I hope this one holds up a bit better....it's not the shaded plastic but a little thicker clear plastic.
I think a lexan canopy would solve these cracking canopies.
I would be more than happy to pay a little extra for a lexan canopy. Hopefully Pilot can switch over to Lexan in the future.

[dmckeller]

I am still waiting on my replacement hatch after almost 6months. Its rediculous!
I stop drilled the crack on the left side and it held for a few more flights. Then one day at the field, i landed and the entire right side was cracked from the base to the top of the canopy. I give up. Tape is holding it together. I can't seem to get Chief to give me a straight answer on when my hatch will be here. They keep sayin in the next shipment. They still owe me a replacement cowl from the original shipment to me.

The plastic that Pilot uses is too flimsy. Oh well you get what you pay for.

[JoeAirPort]

	Quote: Originally Posted by nickb
	Stop drill it at the end of the crack to keep it from spreading. A little piece of fiberglass and clear epoxy would fix it, but not look too pretty.

I didn't drill but the fiberglass with thinned epoxy is a great fix. Even if you have a new one it's good to put the fiberglass where it would normally crack (on the inside). I did this fix and it never ever cracked again. I put matching covering over the crack on the outside. Almost invisible. Nobody ever notices it.

[Kevin K]

Having the same issues on my 37.5% Yak 54. After about 30 flights, my canopy seems to be a weak spot. It has developed several stress dimples on the sides from vibration/flexing, and they eventually crack. I've glued, but then a new crack shows up. The plastic seems to be extremely thin and brittle in the lower side areas. Would be nice if Pilot could add some type of laminated doublers in the canopy cross frame members on the larger size airframes to help dampen out vibrations and flexing in this area. Tony was very kind and sent me a replacement canopy, but I can see this will be an ongoing issue unless they change the design.

Otherwise a great quality and flying aircraft.