We started the windshield installation by carefully determining the centerline of the airplane, and matching that to the center of the windshield:
Using the laser to find the center of the fuselage, to align the windshield
That is, until we realized the center of the windshield is BS and totally irrelevant given the irregular shape :) and instead we simply adjusted it to a position that seemed to make more sense and look good, trimming the edges as we went until we got a gap of less than 3/32" all around the cabin cover flange. We then marked it and trimmed down to get the actual consistent 3/32" gap, using arbitrary markings to realign:
Alignment markings on the windshield and fuselage
Trimming the windshield with a sanding disk
We sanded the cabin cover flange until the fiber was exposed (same as for the windows), and did some more minor adjustment of the flange and windshield edges to keep a consistent 3/32" gap:
Fuselage taped up for sanding the windshield flange
We then taped up the windshield - the top following the Silpruf process, and the bottom following EAA's process:
Windshield with external tapes applied to it
Windshield with interior tapes applies to it
Fully-trimmed windshield held in place by clecos and clamps
With the window ready to attach, I also fabricated and attached the 5 clips that are supposed to hold it in place:
Metal clips for holding the windshield
Windshield held in place by metal clips
We then followed the same process as the windows' for the top edge of the windshield, applying Silpruf, installing spacers, waiting for 12h, then trimming the spacers and gluing it in:
Windshield with a first layer of Silpruf applied to the top edge
Windshield attached to the top flange with Silpruf
We had tried to keep the cleco holes relatively shallow to reduce the change of hitting the conduit behind them, and that worked fine initially but during that final attachment some clecos just didn't take - cleaning off the Silpruf around them and from the clecos themselves helped (I guess the Silpruf was acting as a lubricant and making the clecos slide out?), but we also added some clamps to lower the pressure against the clecos.
We also already marked the edges of the fiberglass fairing, which is what we'll tackle next:
Bottom windshield fairing space taped up for fiberglass layup
After the Silpruf on the rear windows had cured, we removed the clecos, and they held!
Rear window attached in place, without clecos holding it
With this, we repeated the same process for the door windows, startin with trimming the windows and sanding the door flanges (only enough for the fibers to show):
Door window flange, sanded until the fibers show
We trimmed the windows to leave a 3/32" gap, then drilled those gaps for clecos (and unlike the rear windows, on these the holes did not go all the way through, which is convenient since finishing will be easier (no repainting the inside):
Right door window held in place with clecos, after trimming
We taped up the area where we didn't want Silpruf, and attached spacers with RTV:
Left door with protective tape and spacers glued on
A first layer of Silpruf is applied to the end, then let cure for ~24h:
Applying Silpruf to the door window edges
Spreading Silpruf into a thin layer on the door window edges
Right door window with Silpruf applied, and the first tape removed
We then apply a second thin layer of Silpruf to the window, and a thick layer to the window flanges:
Applying Silpruf to the right door flange
Right door window set in place with Silpruf, held at the right depth by clecos
Left door window set in place with Silpruf, held at the right depth by clecos
We had a bit too much squeezeout on some of the inside edge, and too little on other parts, so a lot of adjusting of the inside finish had to be done:
Cleaning up the excess Silpruf that squeezed out of the inside
After removing all the Silpruf-cutting tapes, the end result was pretty good:
Right door window installed in place, after the inside edges were cleaned up and the tape removed
With this, the only part of section 45 remaining is installing the (dreaded) windshield.
