Posted Sunday, March 30, 2008 @ 01:51 PM  

Through Colin, I found a set of used canopies & frames. I sent the canopies to Thermotec in Grass Valley, CA. Ray Poquette of Thermotec said that the canopies were in good enough condition to make molds from. http://home.inreach.com/thermotc/

Ray predicts the molds will be ready by the end of May. Apparently the canopies can be made clear or tinted, with or without a UV filter, with window openings, etc.

The molds should be useful for other models of Fournier as well.

So, shortly, we should have a(nother) U.S. source.

Posted Monday, March 31, 2008 @ 01:17 AM  

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob Grimstead Good news James, Count me in for an RF4 canopy when you get them done. Yours, Bob

Do note, it is important to contact Ray (the owner) at Thermotec directly for any order.

I have no relationship with them and cannot place orders for other people. They do have a contact email on their website.

I have nothing personal to gain from any orders....although it can't hurt if he thinks there is interest beyond my individual order. I am assuming, based on recommendation of others, that their work is high quality. But I am not expecting canopies from them until the end of May. I will be glad to update this thread about price(s) I paid, apparent quality of what I received, etc., at that time.

Posted Tuesday, July 1, 2008 @ 02:24 AM  

any news on Todds canopys yet?

with our rf4 on the verge of flight were getting a little anxious for a new canopy.

are canopy is airworthy, but has multiple cracks safty wired shut. not pretty.

Posted Thursday, July 3, 2008 @ 06:44 PM  

Ray said, "Most aircraft use molded canopies. The reason for this is the canopy has an elliptical cross section. A freeform canopy produces a circular cross section and assistive thinning at the top of the dome. When attempting to mount this canopy on a canopy frame with a elliptical cross section it can pull the frame out of shape, and is bubbled up and out all around. ...In some cases the canopy will bubble out on the side and be flat on the top as seen in his ASW-20 photo. I could go on and on with all the problems with freeform canopies. Occasionally I still make a freeform canopy if the aircraft was designed for it. This RF5B motorglider is not designed for a freeform canopy, it must be molded to get the same OEM quality!

I do not try to compete with Todd's Canopies. It is two different worlds. I compete with companies like MECAPLEX."

----------------

Note that I am simply passing along the point(s) that Ray made and don't pretend to necessarily support one approach over the other. It does make sense that a canopy that uses a mold will be more precise than a canopy that is blown. How much of a difference this makes, I don't know and might vary from canopy to canopy.

Posted Monday, July 27, 2009 @ 10:24 AM  

EIS can supply the original RF4 canopies, but when I last asked for a price, it was around £2,500 including shipping.

For those of you in Europe, Eugenio made a mould for Weiss Plastics (see his earlier post on this site) and their canopies are much cheaper.

I saw Eugenio's Weiss-made canopy at Gap Tallard, and it was optically excellent, and the correct original shape.

He suggests we contact Weiss Plastics direct for a quote, which will of course be lower if more than one canopy is being ordered.

I would definitely like an RF4 canopy myself, but of course at the lowest possible total cost. If they are not too expensive (say, £500 or so apiece) I would buy two, and I suspect Paul Cooper might be in the market for one as well.

I am off to France this week, then to Sweden next week and Norway after that, so I shall be out of touch until September, but if you can get an RF4 canopy into Britain for me to collect at under £1,000 total price, I would definitely wish to buy one.

Posted Wednesday, August 5, 2009 @ 11:29 AM  

ciao

Posted Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 12:51 PM  

My canopies should be ready in 2-3 weeks depending on the mould guys schedule. I will check them for optical clarity, distortion and overall quality. If I think that it is good workmanship and satisfies me, I hope to offer canopies to any interested party at cost.

Kadir

Posted Wednesday, July 27, 2011 @ 12:22 PM  

Contact Ray at:
TermoTecUSA
14530 Lynshar Rd
Grass Valley, CA 95949-7507
530-272-2556
info@thermotecusa.com

but that is in the US and shipping might be a factor to consider and also you need to check what molds they have- maybe your three-piece canopy is more uncommon? I have to say the two-piece canopy on "SE-UDI" is quite satisfactory and I think entry for the rear pilot is perhaps easier.

I think your front canopy looks very nice, so it's only for the rear one you need to find an alternative. I sincerely hope you will get this sorted out, but in the meantime I hope you can get some RF 5b flying done- you've deserved that!

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Posted Thursday, July 28, 2011 @ 05:18 AM  

While I was dealing with Weiss, over our many communications with them, I sent them many pictures of my canopy from all angles.

Weiss asured me that they had the correct canopies. You are correct that people will get their fingers burned less if they are to read
every post in the forum in detail but, sometimes we miss things and make expensive mistakes.

Ofcourse in my case sending the wrong canopy back was not an option on 2 counts,

a) I wantted to get TC-PDK up in the air as quickly as I possibly could and having a new rear canopy would mean weeks of extra wait,
even if I was aware that it was the wrong shape .

b) I had already paid transportation and tax at this end which was more than the cost of the canopy itself. Sending the wrong canopy
back would involve even more expense and paperwork.

I strongly believe Weiss should make good on their mistake and if they have the molds for the correct shape rear canopy, send me a
new rear canopy of the correct shape at their expense.

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input

Posted Thursday, July 28, 2011 @ 09:10 AM  

I am planning on installing the sliding windows, a set of new Weiss cost more than €360 before shipment and tax and the lockable
ones wil cost €500 or more. Does anyone have a better alternative?

P.s. I have just written Weiss another mail asking them to send me the correct canopy. Lets see what happens.

Posted Thursday, July 28, 2011 @ 03:44 PM  

About the sliding window, yes, you can find something used on the backyard of an hangar or somewhere else and use them, but you can also made it or have it made from someone who works the plexiglass. The rail can be done with a strip of thick plexiglass carved to accept the window. The window can be made with a piece of 4mm plexiglass heated and slightly bent to follow the canopy's shape. And to work on the plexiglass is not so scary, if you have an outside pattern for the window's hole and a high speed router you can do a perfect hole in a few minutes without any damage to the plexiglass. The only advice is to do it in hot days use high speed for the job and proceed slowly in the plexiglass. It is more risky when you drill the holes for the rails.

Eugenio