Author Archives: pclifton

Back rivet practice

So after last night’s back riveting debacle, I posted over at VAF to ask for help with the technique. Turns out the main issue is really cranking up the air pressure to the rivet gun. I’d turned it up a … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: .5

Aileron brackets, attempted wing skin riveting

Well, we tried riveting the skins, but it didn’t go so well. More on that in a moment. I had a head start by myself – Josie had to work a little late again – so I decided to assemble the … Continue reading

Posted in Ailerons, Wings | Hours Logged: 1.5

Aileron bracket prep

Yup, I still have yet to do any riveting on the main skins. But I have good reasoning behind it! What I got to thinking about today is that the riveting is an inside job, and doesn’t require nice weather or … Continue reading

Posted in Ailerons, Wings | Hours Logged: 6.5

Cleanup

OK, so no actual airplane work got done today. It was kind of a hectic day – first I had a flight with Joy, then I ran to Harbor Freight for some garage stuff, then I went up to Weiser … Continue reading

Posted in Workspace

LE skin-spar rivets

I’d figured maybe I could get half of the skin-to-spar rivets done tonight, but I actually got them all done in pretty short order. Guess the tediousness of the blind rivets last night made me forget how easy it is … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 2.5

Riveted LE units to spars

Went to work tonight setting all the blind Cherry rivets to hold the LE ribs to the main spar. Before starting, I labeled each rib with the rivet that would be needed. There are three different lengths of rivets required … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 2.5

LE riveting finished

Again, not much to report. Josie wasn’t feeling well again, so I came up with a plan to shoot the last few LE rivets myself. I’ve been shooting these rivets with the LE in the cradle, which means that the … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 1.5

Bit o'priming

Finishing the LE riveting didn’t happen tonight. Josie ended up working late and didn’t feel well after that, so we’ll wait for another night. In the interests of achieving something, I ran out and primed the corners of the main … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: .5

LE riveting, lots of dimpling

I started out today by dimpling all the main ribs and both rear spars. The instructions say you should touch up the spar dimples with a countersink for a better skin fit, but when I did a test fit with … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 6.5

Spar countersinking

Got in some more tailwheel time this morning, came him for a nap, and didn’t get a whole ton done as a result. I basically spent all three hours countersinking all the rivet holes in the main spar. I had … Continue reading

Posted in Wings | Hours Logged: 3