All of the “prep” work has been completed and now it’s time to.....rivet, rivet, rivet!
Starting in the center and moving outwards, the F-01479 Aft Bottom Skin and F-01411 Bulkhead were riveted together with AN426AD3-3.5 flush rivets. Here are the rivets on the aft side of the Bulkhead. Due to the very small working area, these rivets had to be set with a bucking bar and rivet gun. My buddy Jeff helped me shoot these rivets.....very difficult to do by yourself.
This is the forward side of the Bulkhead. I was able to backrivet these rivets with the plate under the fuselage. The 12” backrivet set worked the best for me in this section of the Rear Fuselage. The rivets set during this step are circled in black.
Next up, the F-01479 Aft Bottom Skin, F-01478 Bottom Skin, and the F-01410 Bulkhead were riveted together with six AN426AD3-4 flush rivets. The six rivets are circled in black in the picture below.
Now for the Side Skins. A note in the plans says, “To help the skin lay down tight, rivet the flat sides first, then rivet the curved portions, working around the curve towards the edge of the skin”. So, following the plans, I started riveting from top to bottom staring aft. Additionally, not all the holes get rivets at this time and they are marked with orange tape. Here is the Left Side Skin showing the rivets installed in the Longeron.
This picture shows the opposite side.
I will continue riveting the Side Skins during the next session.