Over the years we have seen lots of different solutions to the canopy seals on our airplanes. The truth is that the factory had it right, it is up to us to install the parts correctly, and in this case, in the correct location!

Here is how we found the windshield.

So what we have here is the canopy seal installed on the windshield instead of the double bead seal. It was also installed backwards.  More on that in a minute.

Once we removed the wrong seal, we found the missing parts underneath (the two curved metal bands that hold the double bead seal to the bow), riveted to the windshield bow.  Take the parts and clean them all, them prime and paint them (flat black) for reuse with the double bead seal.

So we clean everything down and install the seal properly. Let us look at the most wrongly installed seal, the canopy seal. Most are installed backwards, some backwards and upside down. here is a photo of the cross section of the canopy seal showing orientation and how it goes.  Notice the glue section.  This forces the rest of the seal to point forward.  This way when you close the canopy this part of the canopy seal, gets push toward the bottom bead seal on the bow and this forces an water to flow down the outside and not into the plane.Install photos coming.

Cheers

Roscoe
Yankee-Aviation.com
513-519-7008