Astore canopy air leaks

[montanapilot]

First of all, many thanks to Jim for putting these forums together!

I purchased a new Astore last month. I'm getting significant air leaks where the canopy meets the windscreen. Being from Montana, that's not going to be a whole lot of fun in January and February. The leak is on both sides, and in the same place. Looking at the canopy from the inside, there's a "bulge" that houses the latch. The air is coming in from about an inch on either side of that bulge to about 5" outboard of that point. Tecnam has asked for photos, so I'm going to place some colored tape at the site of the leak and photo that. My tech is thinking about a bead of rubber or something similar to correct the problem. Has anybody had this problem and been able to resolve it?

Also, none of the keys that I have fit the canopy lock. I was told by somebody at Tecnam that the lock is basically not functional, that if you try to lock it the key will likely break off, and not to use it. Any thoughts on that one?

All in all, I love this airplane. It's the 18th airplane that I've owned. Much of my flying has been in Pitts Specials (I've owned 5 different models), and so I'm a bit picky about flying characteristics. I think the Astore is a sweetheart. It's solid and it's been really comfortable on some very long cross countries that I've already taken, as in just getting it home to Montana. The G3X was way intimidating, since I'm still a bit in the dark ages, but once I made peace with it, it's the old saying - don't know how I lived without it. Having started out with 25 cent sectionals and a compass, it's all very much like science fiction.

Marshall Friedman
Whitefish, Montana
Astore N377KM

[Flocker]

Welcome Marshall. I'm sure the Astore pilots on here will chime in soon.

[Glenn]

Marshall,

Welcome aboard.  How about some pictures of you Astore?

Glenn

[jetcat3]

Marshall,

Yes pictures please! Glad to see another west coast guy. My Dad and I are from Boise, ID and have been to Whitefish quite a few times. They held an annual remote control jet rally there and we used to drive up there every July. Absolute beautiful place in every sense of the word. Which engine did you go with? Haha, I'm sure it's amazing to see all of this technology spring about but I'm glad to see you're liking the G3X. They are AMAZING avionics!

Drew

[cole505]

Hi Marshall Welcome! 25 cent sectionals an a compass HOLY COW ! So glad you are enjoying your new Astore an the G 3X must seem like an amazing thing after all your past flying! Looking forward to hearing about the many new experiences to come! ✈️🐾😊😎😎👍🏻

Ray & Lucy

[buzz]

Howdy Marshall. Good to see some more northwestern representation. Send pics want to see that plane and hear your stories about flying it.

[montanapilot]

As requested, here's a photo of my new best friend. I think it's cool looking, and at my age, anything that you can do to look cool is good. My wife's name is Kathy. You'll note from the N number who got the top billing.

Marshall Friedman

[CharlieT]

Welcome Marshall I see you have #60 I have #50 with about a 10/1/16 birth date and 170 hrs. The first 50-100 hours you need to read adjust the canopy latch as the rubber starts to seat in around it. You can adjust the main latch by placing a washer behind the screw the the latch hooks on. The side latches are an offset cam arrangement and can be move gently with a vice grips and a rag to protect it.
The canopy lock is a POS. I have taken it apart several times and it works better, but I still don't trust it and don't use it. I figure most people will never figure out how to open the canopy when close from the outside, and when I park overnight away from the hanger I have a canopy cover.

Charlie

[montanapilot]

Re the requests to note my flying experiences with the Astore:

When I test flew it in Sebring, and being an acro pilot for 37 years, there were a couple of things I wanted to check out. One was how the airplane behaved when it departed controlled flight (stalls), and the control harmony.

As for looking at departure from controlled flight, I stalled the airplane and kept the stick back in order to keep the airplane in a deep stall. I wanted to see how it would react. It dropped probably 700 feet with no roll or yaw excursions, and then the left wing dropped quite suddenly and impressively. What I was looking for, and what I wanted to see, was how it would respond to correction from that kind of behavior. I used opposite rudder to bring it back to level, and I found that the rudder input was quite effective. That surprised me a bit, since the rudder is not all that large, but I was extremely pleased with the way that it handled in that regime.

To get a feel for control harmony, I did Dutch Rolls. Most of you likely know what those are, but just in case, you rock the airplane back and forth from a 60 degree bank one way to a  60 degree bank the other way, while keeping the nose pegged to a point on the horizon throughout the maneuver. That's the very best way to get a good feel for the harmonization of the controls since all 3 need to be involved. I didn't expect it to be nearly as harmonized as some of the acro aircraft I've flown, but it did extremely well, and it was not a problem to keep the nose stuck on the point. What I found is that the airplane is a bit stiff in roll, quite sensitive in pitch, and yaw is somewhere in between. 

All in all, I've now made 2 long cross countries in the airplane - about 1700 miles total - and I love it. I find it to be extremely comfortable, I love the visibility, it's way stable, and with all of the avionics it's all like Flash Gordon for me.

And yes, sectionals were a quarter when I began flying, and my lessons in a Super Cub cost $6/hour solo and $9/hour dual. I actually took sectionals with me when I picked up the airplane. Everybody told me that I didn't need them, but I've been flying with a finger on a sectional chart for 56 years, and I couldn't imagine flying without them. I ended up donating them to the FBO where we took delivery of the airplane.

Marshall Friedman

[montanapilot]

Thanks for that, Charlie T. Really helpful, and you've saved me some money in trying to deal with the lock. I agree that with all of the airport security these days and the fact that you need to know that 3 locks need to be disengaged, it's not that big of a deal.

Marshall

[mackattack]

Marshall, I had to adjust the side locks for my canopy side handles a couple times ... the bolts can work loose and rotate so that the handle doesn't stay in place. I went flying with a lady friend of mine and was thinking ... "where is that breeze coming from??" Then looked down and saw the handle was out and I had about 1+ inch separation between the canopy and the fuselage on my side ... no big deal, landed and fixed it right up. Have not had an issue with the center lock. I think the earlier comment about making sure the rubber is sealing properly should be helpful.

[montanapilot]

Thanks for that, Mackattack. All of this is way helpful.

Marshall

[mackattack]

Yep. all you need to fix the side latch is a 10 mm wrench and a pliers. takes a few seconds. Just be sure to put a rag where you use the pliers to avoid scratching the metal like I did the first time!

[geobuff]

The side latch receiving arcs need to be adjusted perfectly. If they are rotated to much you can not get the roller into it. If not enough it will pop out in flight. I carry pliers in the cockpit to rotate them a few degrees if I need to if I don't like the way it is latching.

[montanapilot]

Thanks for the help!

Marshall