Luigi Aldini

I'd like to introduce you Matilde, the girlfriend of our Falco. In Italian Falco means Hawk, and Matilde is a young Kestrel (falco tinniculus) that has just joined our family. She likes to be with us while we are working on the Falco (the airplane).

We decided to have a three-piece canopy, like the one that was used on the original Falcos and the SF 260s. This kind of canopy has the advantage to give more room in the cockpit, and it is also shaded for the sun in the central part.

Ing. Ernesto Valtorta made the molds on an old canopy that we gave him, and after many tests he succeeded in making the tree plexiglass parts. The next step has been to cut the Plexiglas and to glue the parts: it's a complicated operation, and we have been lucky to have the help of Mr. Petrozzi, a professionist in the Plexiglas field.

In these pictures we fitted the canopy in place and formed the gluing strip.

The canopy pieces taped in place.

Testing the glue on two scrap pieces of plexiglass. We simulated the real gluing.

Gluing the canopy. We did a lot of work in masking all the canopy to prevent the glue to go on the clean Plexiglas.

The strip being glued in place.