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
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
SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, IS LAUGHING It really makes you wonder doesn’t it? Is there an engineer or technical writer somewhere having a delightful chuckle at our expense? They can write three pages full of text and images that describe in great detail how to assemble an complex aircraft. I am able… Read More »That’s great – now undo it all
FIRST – THE WEATHER To quote Ferris Bueller, “How could I be expected to go to school on a day like this?” Well, for me it is work, but all the same it was 75 degrees and sunny on President’s Day in Indiana this year. It felt great to roll… Read More »Tail end of the tailcone
Today was quite a unique collection of tasks. One tended to flow right into the other, so it really didn’t bother me too much to keep working and before I knew it, I had put in a solid 3 hours on the tailcone. First things first, I went over every… Read More »Tailcone miscellany
Only put in about an hour today, but it felt like 12. I had to fight with crappy tools, which, again if you’ve read anything I’ve written you know how I feel about that. Drill bits, no matter how nice, on a long enough timeline are disposable. Treat them as… Read More »My longerons eat drill bits
First things first, it feels good to get back out in the garage hangar for a nice long session on the plane. I’ve been itching to get back at the tailcone and start putting the stringers and skins in place. It feels a little odd to look around my shop… Read More »Drilling (and melting) some holes