Riveting aft fuselage
I’ve been slowly working on riveting the aft fuselage section for the past couple of weeks (interrupted by a vacation). I also decided to fabricate the rudder stops one slow evening that I didn’t feel like riveting. I hear that some people say the specified stop dimensions aren’t quite right and some end up having to redo them. If I find that to be the case, I’ll just make another set when I get there.
After all of the effort getting the tailcone section to fit, riveting went pretty well. The holes lined up and everything :). It took me about two or three hours just to get the last two bulkheads riveted into the tailcone. It wasn’t too hard, just tedious and time consuming. You have to figure out ways to block and clamp this stuff down while riveting so it doesn’t move all around. After I got the tailcone stuck together, it was time to move on to the big stuff. The bulkheads (except 706) were riveted to the bottom skin, then everything was clecoed together. I sorta’ started riveting at the tail and worked my way forward. I back riveted most of it with a standard back rivet set. This produced a very nice finish and was super easy. Tanya helped of course.
There are just a few more rivets to set, then it will be time to reset the garage (deal with bench clutter, put away all tools, and clean the floor) and get started on the center section. So the general process of rough parts prep, pre assembly, match drilling, deburring, priming, final assembly begins again.
