Dave Clark wrote:...Cee Bailey and believe me they are not very helpful with the paperwork. .... They are idiots as business people. Also it takes bolts along the top and the LP Aero does not which is somewhat an advantage.
As far as making your own side windows it's real easy with a bandsaw and metal (fine) blade and then a belt sander for the edge smoothing. Very Very important to buy cast not extruded material.
Dave is right when he says Cee Bailey is not very helpful. They are a disgrace to the aviation community, IMO. They will provide a digital form of a document for printing, but the quality is poor as to the resolution. LP Aero uses a "clip" under the retaining groove at the top of the plexi. LP provides the clip with the STC. Great Lakes Aero uses four screws that go through the windshield at the top instead of the clip.
I would add a few precautions about sawing and sanding plexi., etc. previously mentioned. Saw parallel to the template line on the new plexi. about 1/2" away from the line. I've seen 3/8" radial cracks form at the point of the sawblade's cut. Sanding goes quickly, so the 1/2" comes off pretty fast and it's much less prone to cracking. Belt-sand close to the line (approx. within 1/8") and check for fit before removing the rest of the material. When ready to mount, pull the paper back only far enough to be able to place in the frame. The paper can save slight scratching that will probably happen during assembly.
Dave is also right about quality (cast not extruded) material. I've found that I can buy good quality plexi. from a good glass and mirror shop. This hasn't always been true of the stuff found at a building supply. As an added benefit, a glass and mirror shop will usually rough cut it to size to make it more managable for a small charge. One last comment, I'm not sure if Lexan is legal or not, but it probably shouldn't be used as it is almost impossible to polish if needed, and it tends to yellow slightly in sunlight.
Another reason not to use Lexan is it might be difficult or
impossible to hack/bust your way out of the airplane in the
event of a crash (airplane ends up on it's back for example).
Lexan is tough stuff, which is good.... unless you need to bust
you're way through it!
I forgot to mention - if you are going to use the center strip, you'll have to drill the holes for the screws. I used a Unibit for this. These are great bits for drilling both plastic and aluminum, perfect holes and no tear out. These are a little pricey but worth it. Most hardware stores now carry these. You can use a regular bit but you will have to regrind it so it won't crack the plastic, LP included instructions on how to do this.
N170BP wrote:Another reason not to use Lexan is it might be difficult or
impossible to hack/bust your way out of the airplane in the
event of a crash (airplane ends up on it's back for example).
Lexan is tough stuff, which is good.... unless you need to bust
you're way through it!
That's just it.... Lexan is much more difficult to get
through (even with a crash axe) than Plexi.
If you're injured, you may not have the strength to hack
your way through. Even if you're not injured, time may
be of the essence (i.e. fuel pouring everywhere) and you'd
want out as fast as possible.
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