A 4-40 screw hole usually requires a #43 tap drill, but there's just enough material left in a regular #40 hole that you can tap it and get a screw to stay in. I used this fact to my advantage, tapping and running flush 4-40 screws into the holes in the aft canopy bow. I'm glad I waited to final-drill the rivet holes in the canopy frame, or otherwise I wouldn't be able to perform this little trick. These holes will eventually get drilled up to #30 for pop rivets, but for now the screws and tinnerman washers will hold the plexiglass in place without clecoes. I didn't do anything to secure the aft edge of the plexiglass last time, and I think it lifted away from the frame. This time, I can lay up fiberglass right over the top the screws, and the plexiglass will be perfectly held in its final position – the better to make a perfect set of aft skirts, I hope.
With the canopy latched and the plexiglass secured in its final position, I bridged the gap between the glass and fuselage with duct tape, then covered it with clear packing tape to keep the epoxy from sticking to the mold. Tightly-stretched duct tape seems able to keep its shape better and sag less than packing tape alone.
Cutting out pieces of 9-oz cloth:
I laid up four layers of fiberglass on each side of the skirt, with lots of overlap in the middle. This ought to be plenty strong. You can also sort of see that the shape is better this time.
I had a roll of peel-ply tape laying around, so I used strips from that instead of one big peel-ply sheet. No particular reason other than it happened to be handy.
And now we wait…