Lexan Bend Radius

I don't think lexan lends itself to hot bends, however I have made
several three panel winshields in a sheet metal brake. I bends
beautifully, however don't ever spill gasoline on it, especially if it
is stressed or it will craze and shatter almost immediately.

I have had two aircraft with Lexan windshields - an Ercoupe and an
Emeraude.
Both of the windshields were gently curved and installed cold. Both of
them
were unsatisfactory as they developed internal crazing which rendered them
unusable when flying into the sun.

I would not use Lexan for this application again.

Rich S.


Every now and then, I get the nutty idea that Lexan would ake a great
windshield material because of its impact strength. About halfway through a
thread like this one, I start to remember a lot of the problems and learn a
few new ones. The two that always come to mind are the difficulty of
polishing out any scratches and inability to tolerate shock cooling: IIRC,
Steve Wittman tried a lexan windshield on one of his aircraft only to have
it shatter when he pulled it out of his heater hangar and into the cold for
a flight to Florida.

Peter