Monday, March 14, 2011

Trojan Man Covered

I have always wanted a travel cover for the Trojan. The sliding canopy leaks a little when it rains and with all that plexiglass the sun really bakes the cockpit when it is all closed up. Last summer it got so hot that it fried the display on my Garmin GPS mounted on the dash. I tried to get Bruce's custom covers to make me one but they would not do it without the plane for fitting and measuring. I talked to a local guy , but the price was a little too high. Then , one day while surfing I found Kennon Covers and shot them an Email with some pictures. They came right back and said no problem. They do a lot of military work where they don't have access to the machine. They model the whole thing in CAD and make from that. So , I sent them some detailed dimensions and lots of pictures and they made a pattern out of some cheaper material for a trial fitting.

  With this trial fitting we measured for the straps. It is not an optimal configuration for the hold down straps because of the cowl side vents don't let the strap pull forward. I went with the simple hole for the antennas instead of the velcro slit we originally planned. With the antennas so close together a "sock" probably would not work very good. Here is the final product, it has a little slack at the front around the windshield that I think could be improved, but overall it came out OK. It's been through some pretty good spring wind and seems to stay in place. It is supposed to rain this week so I will see how the antenna hole works, little worried about the water getting under the cover.  
Overall I think it came out pretty good considering they never saw the airplane! Should keep that S&F dirt out!

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