A NEW ANGLE
I had to start the day by modifying exactly how it is I’m approaching the tailcone. The first series of rivets went in well on the stringers, but they are more difficult to reach now. I am starting to toss and turn the tailcone so that I can reach more of the holes for riveting. I can easily see how this will turn into a two-person job before too long.
This has really only helped with the first few rows of rivets on the bottom skins, so I will need to start thinking about getting an assistant.
I was only realistically getting about 10 – 15 rivets down the line before the work got sloppy so I chose to stop.
THE NEW CHALLENGE
From this angle, the difficult becomes a bit more clear. You can see that wrapping one arm on the outside of the skin and another arm with a bucking bar to the other side will only get you so far. The new reality is something I’m going to think about while on vacation this coming week. No updates for a while, but I’m sure I’ll read some other pages and come up with a way to knock this out when I return.
Total time today – 2 hours
Total time empennage – 179.5 hours
Total time aircraft – 179.5 hours