DART Canopy needed

[Ernie]

a friend bought a DART 17(T51 17R), build in 1968, SN1610. Glider is in good
condition but the canopy needs to be replaced.

any leads appreciated to find out where we can get....

- a new canopy - original
- a new canopy from one of the canopyh makers
- a used serviceable canopy (no cracks or repairs)

cheers

Ernie

[Bob Kuykendall]

Earlier, "Ernie" > wrote

> a friend bought a DART 17(T51 17R), build
> in 1968, SN1610. Glider is in good condition
> but the canopy needs to be replaced.

The only replacement Dart canopy I've ever seen was on Mike Hoke's
Dart. It was made by Cowley at El Mirage; they're long out of
business. My general experience is that the least expensive place to
get a replacement canopy is from the holder of the original tooling.
Doing it once with parts that fit is almost always cheaper than doing
it twice.

Two other resources to consider:

Thermotec (Ray Poquette) does one-offs like that, but can be a bit
pricey.

Jim Marske free-blows canopies for his Pioneers as well as 1-26s and
things like that. You might ask hem to help.

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com

[Neal Pfeiffer]

Another source might be George Applebay in New Mexico. George gave a
nice demonstration of canopy blowing during the Sailplane Homebuilders
Workshop in October at the Southwest Soaring museum. I believe that
George would suggest using the maufacturer's canopy first, but when not
available or for a glider without insurance coverage, his blown canopies
are a good, less expensive option.

Good Luck,
...... Neal

Bob Kuykendall wrote:
> Earlier, "Ernie" > wrote
>
>
>>a friend bought a DART 17(T51 17R), build
>>in 1968, SN1610. Glider is in good condition
>>but the canopy needs to be replaced.
>
>
> The only replacement Dart canopy I've ever seen was on Mike Hoke's
> Dart. It was made by Cowley at El Mirage; they're long out of
> business. My general experience is that the least expensive place to
> get a replacement canopy is from the holder of the original tooling.
> Doing it once with parts that fit is almost always cheaper than doing
> it twice.
>
> Two other resources to consider:
>
> Thermotec (Ray Poquette) does one-offs like that, but can be a bit
> pricey.
>
> Jim Marske free-blows canopies for his Pioneers as well as 1-26s and
> things like that. You might ask hem to help.
>
> Thanks, and best regards to all
>
> Bob K.
> http://www.hpaircraft.com