Koger Sunshades were developed in 1996 by Ralph Koger, of Boone, Iowa. While flying his award-winning RV-6A, he had trouble seeing his digital instruments because of the sun reflecting in the cockpit. Having flown training aircraft in WW2 with built-in shades, an idea was born. In an effort to increase instrument visibility and reduce cockpit temperature, he started to experiment with new, lightweight retractable sunshades built to resemble those that he had used in WW2. The KOGER SUNSHADE was born, made especially for the home-built airplane market.

At age 93 Ralph retired and sold the business in 2016 to Jeff and Peg Lorimor. Jeff is a retired engineer from Iowa State University. Peg, a superb seamstress and quilter, retired from sewing RV seats for DJ Lauritson in Boone, Iowa, to help out with their newly acquired sunshade business. Jeff is himself a veteran pilot and homebuilder with an RV-6 in his history and an RV-12 in progress.

Every Koger Sunshade comes with a lifetime, manufacturer guarantee. Let us know if you ever have a problem.

This style of sunshade will fit most side-by-side seating planes with large bubble type canopies. It is necessary to fit the shade precisely to the canopy of each individual aircraft.

1. Place a strip of electrical tape on the outside of the canopy, down the centerline, by sighting from the prop to the tail.

2. Fit the aluminum channel precisely to the canopy. Place the channel on top of the electrical tape (on the outside of the canopy). The channel can be bent by hand to follow the canopy contour exactly. The channel must fit the shape of the canopy exactly so that there will not be any pressure to cause the channel to pull the tape away from the canopy.

3. Inside the canopy, clean the area under the tape using a cloth dampened lightly with denatured alcohol or 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner Part No. 051135-08984.

4. Climb into the cockpit and close the canopy. Mount the rear bow in the channel, and check that it is straight across while holding the channel in position. Remove the protective cover from the 2” double stick tape segments on the channel. Using the electrical tape on the outside as a guide, press the channel into place at the double stick tape areas. Press hard. The double stick tape is a 3M product used to hold molding on autos; it will not harm your canopy, and it can be removed.

5. Bend the bows to fit the canopy. They should exert a slight pressure on the ends against the canopy when the sunshade is extended. Starting from the rear, mount and bend the bows. Leaving them in place will help you determine the general location of each numbered bow. Remove the bows and thread one shade cover onto the bows in the same order that they were fit. The loops in the material go on top.

6. Place a drop of glue on each bow & fabric at the center of the bow (next to the channel). This will prevent the fabric from sliding off the bows.

7. Install the other side fabric on the bows, glue, and place the completed unit in the channel.

8. Tighten the black thumb screw at the rear of channel. The front larger (white) thumb screw is then used to extend or retract the sunshade.