I couldn’t find anything obviously preventing the canopy frame from moving farther forward, but I suspected the seal support flange. I unclecoed the outboard portion of the canopy frame skin and sure enough the forward channel of the canopy frame was pressed firmly against the seal support flange.
A few minutes with the vixen file removed the interference and now the canopy frame could be moved far enough forward that the skins butt together. The plans want you to put a 0.020″ spacer between the skins, but the fit isn’t perfectly tight along the whole joint. Instead, I’m going to butt the skins tightly together and then file the canopy skin to create a uniform gap along the whole joint.
I put a couple of ratcheting straps on. One is pulling the sides of the frame inward to ensure the frame is the correct width. The other is pulling the frame down to ensure it’s tight against the fuselage.
I also use a couple of clamps to make sure the canopy frame wall pulled down tight.
