Day 1
Primed spars and miscellaneous parts, then started to cleco the results back together. The big news, though, is that I installed the first rivet! It also became the first rivet that I drilled back out, because the result sucked. In fact, there were quite a few rivets drilled out due to the fact that I was having problems handling the rivet squeezer. The trick to drilling them out is to drill into the head, then use an awl to twist the head off. A few times that didn't work; however a cold chisel definitely did once the head was weakened by a hole in it.
I finally mounted the squeezer in a vise, and things went much better after that. Can't believe how slick this squeezer is! Wish that I'd had one for my last airplane project.
Day 2
Primed horizontal stab inner skins, and continued to rived the spars. My nemesis, the HS-908 attachment brackets, continued to cause problems. The plan is to re-install all those rivets once I order more. It was a riveting technique issue...
Also picked up some new plastic pipe for conduit in the Home Depot Aviation Department. The final choice is overflow pipe for hot water heaters. Simply cut a metal fitting off one end. No idea right now what I'll install in the tips -- but am guessing that it will either be a camera or a ham radio antenna of some sort.
Day 3
Riveted brackets for elevators on to spars, then attached nose ribs to skins. The middle nose rib on each side is a two-person job, and I am indebted to Jim Piavis who came over to help out with this part of the project.
The plans are not very clear about how to attach fairings, and it's important to install nutplates now if they will be needed later. So email sent to Fairings Etc. for guidance.
Total time this weekend: About 14 hours.
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