Hello All,

-My Standard Libelle SN 32 restoration is nearing completion and I am once again on the search for a replacement canopy (standard profile) and some of the performance mods (winglets/fairings/aileron fences) if anyone has the kits sitting on their shelf collecting dust. I am still on my 18-year-old budget so I am not quite looking for a retail replacement.
-On that note, I currently have a standard profile canopy and frame which would be sufficient for someone looking to make a mold which will be available after I find a replacement. The optical clarity is, however, less than sufficient.
-I also have a racing profile H301 canopy and frame which I had hoped would fit the 201 but appears to have several minor differences. The canopy is also cracked (darn FedEx) but again sufficient enough to make a mold (might be able to stop drill as well but it is borderline).

-I have also heard of a possible method to retrofit different model winglets onto the Libelle, so if anyone has some information on how that works or an example of a glider that has had it done, it would be appreciated.

Happy Landings,

Scott Tobin

Scott,

What do you mean by “The optical clarity is less than sufficient”?

Have you tried any methods of canopy restoration? You might already know this, but canopies can be restored.

My club purchased a 2-33 with a hazy, scratched canopy. After doing a little research here on RAS, I acquired the Micro Mesh KR-70 plastic restoration kit and the three part Novus plastic polish kit. The Micro Mesh is for sanding out scratches. It is a laborious process and once started, must be seen through to the end for the canopy to be usable again. Novus is a series polishing compounds and is more for haze and very fine scratches/swirls. There are many similar products to the Novus that have been successfully used by others. A club mate already had the Novus, so that’s what I used..

Just for the heck of it, I started with the Novus. Much to my surprise, the canopy turned out much better than I thought it would. Good enough that I decided to wait until this winter to use the Micro Mesh.

Note that for products like Novus, do not use circular motions. Go get a box of 100% cotton rags and grab a new rag often.

For the Micro Mesh, I’ve been told to read and follow the directions carefully. Hand sanding only, no power tools. If you try to chase very deep individual scratches, optical distortions will result. It’s probably best to not worry about perfecting deep scratches.

CLEAN the canopy well before using any of these products. Lucky for you the Libelle canopy does not have a lot of surface area. There are a few good threads here on RAS with more detail.

On Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 5:10:53 PM UTC-4, scotty...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> -My Standard Libelle SN 32 restoration is nearing completion and I am once again on the search for a replacement canopy (standard profile) and some of the performance mods (winglets/fairings/aileron fences) if anyone has the kits sitting on their shelf collecting dust. I am still on my 18-year-old budget so I am not quite looking for a retail replacement.
> -On that note, I currently have a standard profile canopy and frame which would be sufficient for someone looking to make a mold which will be available after I find a replacement. The optical clarity is, however, less than sufficient.
> -I also have a racing profile H301 canopy and frame which I had hoped would fit the 201 but appears to have several minor differences. The canopy is also cracked (darn FedEx) but again sufficient enough to make a mold (might be able to stop drill as well but it is borderline).
>
> -I have also heard of a possible method to retrofit different model winglets onto the Libelle, so if anyone has some information on how that works or an example of a glider that has had it done, it would be appreciated.
>
>
> Happy Landings,
>
> Scott Tobin

On Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 4:33:33 PM UTC-4, KyleCharles wrote:
> Scott,
>
> What do you mean by “The optical clarity is less than sufficient”?
>
> Have you tried any methods of canopy restoration? You might already know this, but canopies can be restored.
>
> My club purchased a 2-33 with a hazy, scratched canopy. After doing a little research here on RAS, I acquired the Micro Mesh KR-70 plastic restoration kit and the three part Novus plastic polish kit. The Micro Mesh is for sanding out scratches. It is a laborious process and once started, must be seen through to the end for the canopy to be usable again. Novus is a series polishing compounds and is more for haze and very fine scratches/swirls. There are many similar products to the Novus that have been successfully used by others. A club mate already had the Novus, so that’s what I used.
>
> Just for the heck of it, I started with the Novus. Much to my surprise, the canopy turned out much better than I thought it would. Good enough that I decided to wait until this winter to use the Micro Mesh. t
>
> Note that for products like Novus, do not use circular motions. Go get a box of 100% cotton rags and grab a new rag often.
>
> For the Micro Mesh, I’ve been told to read and follow the directions carefully. Hand sanding only, no power tools. If you try to chase very deep individual scratches, optical distortions will result. It’s probably best to not worry about perfecting deep scratches.
>
> CLEAN the canopy well before using any of these products. Lucky for you the Libelle canopy does not have a lot of surface area. There are a few good threads here on RAS with more detail.

Hi Kyle,

I suppose I may have been a little vague haha. By optical clarity, I meant that there are many internal UV cracks that cause the sunlight to refract in some strange directions making visibility less than ideal. I did already use Micro Mesh which helped but the situation is not very great, ergo my search for a canopy continues.

Happy Landings,

Scott

On Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at 2:10:53 PM UTC-7, scotty...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> -My Standard Libelle SN 32 restoration is nearing completion and I am once again on the search for a replacement canopy (standard profile) and some of the performance mods (winglets/fairings/aileron fences) if anyone has the kits sitting on their shelf collecting dust. I am still on my 18-year-old budget so I am not quite looking for a retail replacement.
> -On that note, I currently have a standard profile canopy and frame which would be sufficient for someone looking to make a mold which will be available after I find a replacement. The optical clarity is, however, less than sufficient.
> -I also have a racing profile H301 canopy and frame which I had hoped would fit the 201 but appears to have several minor differences. The canopy is also cracked (darn FedEx) but again sufficient enough to make a mold (might be able to stop drill as well but it is borderline).
>
> -I have also heard of a possible method to retrofit different model winglets onto the Libelle, so if anyone has some information on how that works or an example of a glider that has had it done, it would be appreciated.
>
>
> Happy Landings,
>
> Scott Tobin

Scott,

Congrats on almost being done with your project! I used to have a 201 and grew out of it but here are my recommendations.

My Libelle came with removable fairings and the idea was to put them on and tape over them for optimal use. Great vision by whoever thought of them and made them (they came with the ship when I purchased them) however, it was the biggest pain in the ass, ever. I sold these to someone in Moriarity that wanted to reproduce and improve the application etc. What I did find was this, a good tape job, and proper sealing on the canopy frame, did 99% what that fairing did. My advice to you is, unless you wanna make the big payment to Germany for a slight difference in an already fairly cheap glider, just focus on the tape and weather stripping.

All the best, and hope you get to flying her soon.

On Monday, July 19, 2021 at 1:37:49 PM UTC-7, scotty...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 4:33:33 PM UTC-4, KyleCharles wrote:
> > Scott,
> >
> > What do you mean by “The optical clarity is less than sufficient”?
> >
> > Have you tried any methods of canopy restoration? You might already know this, but canopies can be restored.
> >
> > My club purchased a 2-33 with a hazy, scratched canopy. After doing a little research here on RAS, I acquired the Micro Mesh KR-70 plastic restoration kit and the three part Novus plastic polish kit. The Micro Mesh is for sanding out scratches. It is a laborious process and once started, must be seen through to the end for the canopy to be usable again. Novus is a series polishing compounds and is more for haze and very fine scratches/swirls. There are many similar products to the Novus that have been successfully used by others. A club mate already had the Novus, so that’s what I used.
> >
> > Just for the heck of it, I started with the Novus. Much to my surprise, the canopy turned out much better than I thought it would. Good enough that I decided to wait until this winter to use the Micro Mesh. t
> >
> > Note that for products like Novus, do not use circular motions. Go get a box of 100% cotton rags and grab a new rag often.
> >
> > For the Micro Mesh, I’ve been told to read and follow the directions carefully. Hand sanding only, no power tools. If you try to chase very deep individual scratches, optical distortions will result. It’s probably best to not worry about perfecting deep scratches.
> >
> > CLEAN the canopy well before using any of these products. Lucky for you the Libelle canopy does not have a lot of surface area. There are a few good threads here on RAS with more detail.
> Hi Kyle,
>
> I suppose I may have been a little vague haha. By optical clarity, I meant that there are many internal UV cracks that cause the sunlight to refract in some strange directions making visibility less than ideal. I did already use Micro Mesh which helped but the situation is not very great, ergo my search for a canopy continues.
>
> Happy Landings,
>
> Scott