Canopy Post for Raptor 30/50 v1/v2
And other mods...
last updated 1-19-2006

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 1. Wooden post at front of tray
2. Bolt at canopy latch
1. Wooden post at front of radio tray
What is this modification for?
With some mufflers like the Curtis Muscle Pipe 2 and the Hatori SB-15FH you have to cut the canopy. When you take away a section of the corner ridge on the bottom of the canopy it weakens it. In certain situations with agressive flying the canopy can flex and move around enough that the clamp at the bottom will disengage. If this happens then the canopy can catch on the front of the swashplate and cause you to crash. By placing the wooden dowel rod at the front of the radio tray it will do two things. One is to prevent side to side movement and second is to prevent the canopy from raising up in the front.

So why use a small wooden dowel rod?
I want something that can break in a crash. If the rod was too thick or mounted solid to the radio tray then there is more of a chance the radio tray could be damaged. Notice that the wooden dowel rod is secured in place with just fuel tubing. In a hard side impact the dowel rod will slide out the other side. And in the event of a straight nose-down impact the wooden dowel rod should break.
Get a wooden dowel rod that is 4mm diameter (3/16 inch) and cut off a section that is 90mm long (3-1/2 inches). Take some medium size fuel tubing and cut two pieces that are 10mm long and two pieces that are 5mm long. The front of the radio tray has a round tube that you will install the wooden dowel rod in. However the hole does not go all the way through. There is a wall directly in the center that you will need to drill through. After you have done that place one of the 5mm pieces half way on the end of the dowel rod. Push this end into the left side of the radio tray as shown in the picture below. The fuel tubing will stay in place as the wooden dowel rod slides through to the other side. After a short section of the rod extends out of the left side then place the other 5mm fuel tubing all the way on that end. Now push the dowel rod in further and center it. Slide the fuel tubing on the right side against the radio tray and use a small flat blade screw driver to put it a little into the tube of the radio tray. The final step is to place the 10mm long pieces of fuel tubing on the ends of the dowel rod. Leave a short section of the fuel tubing extending past the end of the dowel rod as shown in the picture below.



PS: Yes I know the rubberband seen in these pictures is bad. I replaced it before putting the canopy back on.
2. Bolt at canopy latch
First I drill a 1/16 hole through the clamp and the landing gear strut. Then the canopy is removed and the hole in the strut enlarged enough to allow a 3x8mm hex screw to be screwed into the strut. Turn the screw all the way in. Then enlarge the hole in the clamp so that it will fit over the head of the 3mm hex. When the canopy is installed the clamp will now snap onto strut and be held firmly by the hex screw. To make canopy installation easier I've slightly filed down the leading edge of the hex head but this isn't really necessary.
Tip contributed by Bob Hibbs

Here are some pictures using a screw instead of a bolt: