Libelle 201 Canopy

A worthwhile read on how to make your own moulded canopy.

http://ssa.org/Archive/ViewIssue.asp...onth=6&page=31

June 1975 SOARING, starts on page 31. If you search the SOARING archive for "Bob Walters" you will find some more articles by him and about his Duster. A beautiful plane. Later, he designed and built the Dragonfly. A two seat, side by side, tandem wing (similar configuration to the Rutan Quicke) airplane. He stopped overnight at Sunflower Gliderport on his way to its Oshkosh debut!

Not saying don't try it. Just saying you should be aware that it may not be as easy as it appears!

Steve Leonard

Thanks Steve I don't have an SSA membership as of yet when I do I'll plan on reading the article that Mr. Walters wrote. Im actually making payments on a Dragonfly. To Gram could you provide the contact info for the Libelle canopy you mentioned. There's a good chance I would pick up a transparency from them.

This article is about the bloke who makes canopies here.
I’m currently waiting on a blue tint DG canopy from him.
http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article...opies&A=113285

I was looking at autospeed. My thought was that a Libelle canopy would make for an easier project being its pretty small however the shape people have said makes it one of the most difficult supposedly. I'm not certain what his prices are like but shipping from Aus to the US I'd think would be quite expensive. Not because of weight because of size. What was the lead time on the canopy you ordered Charlie?

As he has to make a mould, my lead time is 4 months
He charges $2500 for a canopy for a DG, he has a Libelle mould, that was the first one he made.
I will ask him about costs.
At least a Libelle canopy is not so big. He said the pointy section at the back is the most difficult part to get right.
If you read the article, all of his glider canopies are stretch formed, rather than blown, making them thicker at the top of the curve.
Ian is retiring soon, and hopes to have a 2 week lead time in the near future. I suspect it would be too expensive with shipping, but is half the mecaplex price.
Right now he is busy on mine!