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Kim asked: > The side windows in my ship are pretty scratched up. A previous > owner replaced the front and rear glass, but not the side plastic. > I'm going to try some plastic cleaner tomorrow, but I expect to have > to replace them. My questions are: > > 1. Is there any trick to replacing the welting and side windows? I > do not need an A&P, do I? > > 2. Can I eliminate the center shade piece? It just gets in my way > getting in the plane. Do the side windows go up a touch if the shade > is gone? Kim, This is a good mechanical question that'd best be posted on the TECH list rather than asking me, directly. I'm not any kind of mechanic. This is, however, a question that most new Coupe owners need to ask sooner or later. I can't give you the length of the side windows when the center panel is not used. Nor can I tell you useful information about doing the window welt. My non-Coupe-knowledgeable A&P/AI managed it on his first try, as I recall. But I've heard reports of problems from others. Plexiglas is a bit more brittle, but it resists scratching a bit better. If at all possible, go through the structure around the window's down position and try to ensure that it doesn't ever rub against the window. Then you get few, if any, new scratches. When I replaced my windows the last time, I had a good set of scratches within days - because I had not fixed the structure causing the scratches. Some people recommend polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is much less brittle but it is softer and scratches more easily. When I tried a polycarbonate panel, I got visual ripples, even with no sun glasses. I've heard from casual sources that polycarbonate is not an authorized material and this is probably why, if so. Also, I like to fly with polarized sun glasses to eliminate or minimize reflections from inside the plane. That's OK with Plexiglas but I got funny color patterns when using the polarized sun glasses through polycarbonate. After a couple weeks, I had the mechanic make that window again with Plexiglas. Lots of owners make their own windows. The old window can be measured for the width but it'd be better if someone posted the exact, optimal width. You'd normally reuse the end hardware. (Be careful about the orientation.) I've heard there are special drill bits for drilling Plexiglas. I think I've heard that an alternative is to use a somewhat dull bit but I'd urge you to Google drilling Plexiglas and you should get good info. I personally don't like the sun shade at all. I was always quite happy having my sun shade attached to my head on the front of my baseball cap. That way it would move out of my line of sight and could be accurately positioned to block the sun while I looked for aircraft around it. Leaving the two windows a few inches apart increased the airflow through the cabin vent sufficiently that I was comfortable in bright sun. Of course, if it's REALLY hot, you can open the cabin windows WAY far. I used a shoe string to hold the windows 3-4 inches apart to keep them from sliding down rather than using the window tighteners which sometimes crack the Plexiglas. Be sure that you close the windows for the actual take off and initial climb on hot days - you're already having too much performance loss to give away even the small amount lost from windows open operation. It's generally thought that you lose about 5 mph at cruise speed from having the windows full open. You lose a bit of fuselage lift, too. We're only talking about a minute or three for the takeoff roll and initial climb out so you won't melt, even on the hottest desert day. I'll echo this response to the TECH list so you can get more info and correct any of my mistakes. Best wishes, ============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
