CALLING IN SOME BACKUP I have just about reached the extent of what I can back rivet on the tailcone. It was time to make a call to the bullpen. Fortunately my wife is an expert with a tungsten bucking bar and made quick work of this. Setting rivets in… Read More »The real riveting expert
WING DELIVERY DAY IS FINALLY HERE I ordered my QB Wing Kit back in December 2017 and have been waiting patiently ever since. Well, as patiently as can be expected. There really is a lot to unpack here (literally and figuratively) so I will get started. First, I used Tony… Read More »WING DAY!
BACK RIVET TIME – BUT FIRST ANOTHER MOVE Sadly, it has been three weeks since I have laid a finger on the RV. This time has been filled with a combination of vacation and work trips. One undeniably better than the other. I spent a good deal of time on… Read More »Shooting the back rivet approach
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… Read More »A new angle on tailcone rivets
SO MANY TAILCONE RIVETS This will likely be the most skewed post in history. I have one solitary image that covers 4 hours of work. Riveting. Ha!! See what I did there? Riveting? The pun? Okay – let’s wrap up this post because I’m pretty punchy at this point. That… Read More »Tailcone rivets? Sure, why not
FIRST, PUT IT ALL BACK TOGETHER The time has come to reassemble the tailcone one last time. I will admit that this is probably my favorite part of the build process. I really enjoy seeing all of the primed parts coming back together to get riveted permanently. After riveting together… Read More »Riveting the tailcone skins
PNEUMATIC SQUEEZER IS THE TOOL FOR THE JOB I was able to get out for another hour tonight and get some more riveting done on the tailcone. I used my squeezer tonight for nearly all of the rivets I put in. The squeezer is a fantastic tool. In looking back,… Read More »I missed you too squeezer
RIVET THE BELLCRANK After many months away, I have finally picked up my riveting tools again! I really enjoy the process of riveting, even if it is 10 rivets on a bellcrank. It makes the airplane become real and permanent. It begins to feel permanent. I did not have a… Read More »Rivet gun, I’ve missed you old friend
LABEL ALL OF YOUR PARTS I have always taken special care to make sure that all of my parts are labeled correctly. On priming day, I laid out paper mats and wrote the part numbers next to each piece. This way, I could keep track of each and every part,… Read More »Dimple everything
ANOTHER PERFECT DAY One of the challenges of priming parts in Indiana is getting the weather to cooperate. At least I thought that would be the case. It turns out that patience pays and I was rewarded with a 60 degree day with clear sunny skies and zero wind for… Read More »Prime day for priming