I had to replace a windshield that was broken when a Columbia crashed
into it. It was already actually broken, so it couldn't be removed in
one piece anyway. I used a rubber mallet fairly gently to break the
pieces loose from the glue (not weld-on) and then used a die grinder
to remove the glue. For a whole window, I don't know what I would
recommend, but probably a router or heat like others have mentioned
would work well.
When installing, we put a piece of cardboard over the window and tie a
rope from one spar center section over to the other to hold the lower
part of the windshield in place and then drill some #40 holes and use
little pieces of flat aluminum and clecos around the rest of the
window. We've never had a crack. Attached is a picture with some of
the clecos in place, but not the rope.
Jesse Saint
Saint Aviation, Inc.
jesse@saintaviation.com
Cell: 352-427-0285
Fax: 815-377-3694
On Nov 16, 2009, at 9:23 PM, ricksked@embarqmail.com wrote:
> Aaron,
>
> Depends on how you glued it in. I used epoxy and flox and I'm sure
> heat and patience would work well Not sure about weld on. The
> fairing should be able to be removed with heat and some patience as
> well. IIRC, Jesse Saint may chime in, I think they swapped out a
> forward transparency...Dave Saylor will know for sure...he is the
> composite guru who's polished wings warped out his rear window....if
> it weren't such a pain to match paint I could swap out a front
> transparency in a week ready for paint....without using power tools
> except to clean up the cabin lip. And yes I've torn out a bunch of
> glass parts in my time.
>
> Rick Sked
> N246RS
> Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
>
> From: Aaron Gleixner <aarongleixner@sbcglobal.net>
> Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:34:47 -0800 (PST)
> To: <RV10-list@matronics.com>
> Subject: Tips on removal of front window and lessons
> learned