Alright! It’s time to update my blog! It has been WAY to long since my last update, but I have completed A LOT of work! I will do my best to update the blog with all the work over the past month. I will start with my most recent work competed and work my way back to November 7 (my last blog posting). So, here goes......
Wednesday, December 11, 2019 (Part 29)
I continued installing rivets on the aft portion of the Right Side Skin. As the plans direct, rivets are initially installed on the F-01403 (Forward Center Section Bulkhead Assembly) and the F-01404 (Aft Center Section Bulkhead Assembly) and installed aft, then forward (just like on the Left Side Skin). I have installed all the rivets in the Aft portion except for the bottom portion where you see clecos. This is where the F-10433-R Flap Block Bracket will be installed to the Fuselage.
Up until this point, I have been able to install all the rivets myself. However, there are a four rivets by the lower Aft Center Section that I will need help installing.
I will continue working on the Right Side Skin during the next work session.
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Monday, December 9, 2019 (Part 28)
After the LONG, LONG work day on Sunday, it’s now time to repeat the process from the Left Side Skin and start installing all the rivets in the Right Side Skin. The photo below shows the rivet legend for the Left Side Skin (as previously posted). With the exception of the rivets in the red box (Canopy Latch Brackets—only installed on the left side), the Right Side Skin rivet installation will be identical.....“just opposite”!!
The two black boxes below show the locations where the initial rivets for the Right Side Skin were installed in the Forward & Aft Center Sections (as directed in the plans). The red box shows where I started installing rivets aft of the Center Sections in the Upper Longeron. As you can see from the rivet legend, a mixture of AN426AD3-5 and AN426AD3-4 rivets were used up to this point.
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Sunday, December 8, 2019 (Part 27)
Because I prepared most of the internal parts (Ribs, Stiffeners, etc) that accompany the Side Skins during installation, the assembly of the Right Side Skin “should” go faster. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I decided to prepare all the internal parts (edge cleaning, hole deburring, Alumiprep, Alodine, primer, etc) for the Side Skin assemblies at the same time. It definitely makes for much faster work to retrieve an already completed part when the plans call for it.
However, I still needed to prepare the Right Side Skin itself. So, the edges had to be cleaned and certain edges received a lap joint, the holes were deburred, the appropriate #30 and #40 holes were dimpled using the DRDT-2 and my pneumatic squeezer, and the Skin was treated with Alumiprep, Alodine, and Akzo primed. In the picture below, you can see my set up for the dimpling the Skin. Because the Skin is so long, I used a step stool, McCauley box, and pelican case foam as my second set of hands....worked out great!
Once all that was done (and the primer was dry), I started riveting. Most of the riveting done from here on out is the exact same thing as with the Left Skin. The only difference I see is the addition of the Canopy Latch Brackets on the Left Skin.....everything else is essentially mirrored from one side to the other.
To get started, the F-01485R Center Section Side Plate was backriveted to the Right Side Skin (you can see four of the six AN426AD3-3.5 rivets in the red box). The next step was to backrivet the F-01464-R Upper Drag Fitting (in the black box below) using five AN426AD4-8 and 24 AN426AD4-7 rivets.
The next step in the plans is to rivet the F-01413-R Stiffener to the Right Side Skin using 18 AN426AD3-4 rivets. (The plans called for AN426AD3-3.5 rivets, but they looked a little short to me. I measured the -3.5 and -4 rivets and the -4’s measured perfectly.....so I used -4’s here for the installation). As directed in the plans, the five holes closest to the Center Side Plate did not have rivets installed at this time. This will allow the Skin to be “pulled out slightly” when it is placed on the Fuselage for final install.
The next two pieces to get riveted to the Right Side Skin were the F-01491-R (top) and F-01492-R (bottom) Fuselage Side Ribs. Not the best picture showing the installed rivets, but AN426AD3-4 rivets were used (measured perfectly compared the the 3-3.5 rivets called for in the plans). Only the first five holes received rivets at this time....the remaining nine holes will be used when the Rear Fuselage is attached.
Once those five pieces were riveted into place on the Right Side Skin, it was time to “set” it into place on the Fuselage. As I mentioned earlier, the five holes closest to the Center Section Side Plate did not receive rivets. Here is why:
“Step 3: Rest the side skin on top of the center section as shown in figure 1. The side skin will be forward and high of the final position”
Step 4: Bend the forward portion of the side skin outboard slightly to allow the aft portion of the F-01413 Stiffener to clear inboard of the F-01403D-R Forward Center Section Angle, then move the side skin aft to align the center section notch with the center section.”
Once in position, the Upper Longeron Assembly was clecoed to the Side Skin. Finally, the Side Skin was clecoed to the Fuselage. This the Right Side Skin clecoed into place on the Fuselage.....
.....and from another angle.....
.....and on the inside.
