Ummmm.....Well.....Damn it! Yesterday, I posted a picture showing the Front Spar, Rear Spar, and the four Ribs clecoed together for riveting. Today, I riveted EVERYTHING together. Despite seeing a note in the plans, reading the note in the plans, circling the note in the plans, and re-reading the note in the plans (several times).....I didn't comply with the note. What does the note say.....
The NOTE says: "Take care to assemble the parts in the order given in the step by step instructions"
The INSTRUCTIONS say, "Rivet all of the Ribs to the FRONT SPAR using the rivets called out in Figure 1". Well, I did all that (I guess you could also argue that I didn't do all that).....and also riveted the Rear Spar.....WRONG!
So, now I have to fix it. Not a BIG deal, but still a goof on my part! After drilling out the eight rivets and removing the Rear Spar, below is the Front Spar, Tip Rib, Rib, Root Rob, and Nose Rib all riveted together.....as originally called for in the plans. As it turns out, you can't reach the inside of the Vertical Stabilizer and rivet the Skin to the Front Spar.....with the Rear Spar IN THE WAY!
The two pictures below show the areas inside the Vertical Stabilizer I will need to access in order to rivet on the Skins. An AN426 rivet will go into every hole that you see a cleco. To set the rivets, a bucking bar will need to be used in this inside area. Again, you would not be able to access this space with the Rear Spar attached to the assembly.
This is the bottom section of the Vertical Stabilizer showing the end of the Front Spar, the Root Rib, and the Nose Rib. The orange tape you see on the Root Rib is marking holes (covering them actually) that will not recieve rivets during this portion of the build.
After fixing my goof, I finally have the whole assembly clecoed together and ready to have the Skin riveted to the Vertical Stabilizer skeleton. Notice there are no clecos on the left side of the Skin......can anyone guess what goes there?.....you got it, the Rear Spar!
Here you see me clecoing the Skin to the Vertical Stabilizer skeleton in preparation for riveting.