Gas Struts

Finally finished the small parts to mount the gas struts to hold the canopy open. Took about two days of fiddling to machine all the parts and a drill jig to set the position of the front mounts. A funny thing happened after I drilled everything and installed the struts: The gap between the canopy and rear window opened up! Those struts do a lot of prying on a clecoed assembly and even more when you do not have the front top skin clecoed on.

Upshod: You do not want those gas struts anywhere near the fusalage while you are fitting up the skirts, etc. - Until everything is riveted finally into place. Of course, the final riveting of all the fuselage/canopy parts is starting to look like the proverbial chicken and egg problem... Who goes first and after that what order?