Fuselage and finishing kit arrived: 2 hours

My fuselage and finishing kit showed up today!

We are leaving for Oshkosh this afternoon so the timing worked out great. It would have been a real hassle if we had been gone when it all showed up.

The tractor trailer rig was unable to make the curves and hills in my neighborhood so Britt and I took my little trailer and met the driver.

The driver was very accommodating and made two trips back and forth to the house to get everything unloaded. I also spent an extra half hour with the driver afterwards helping him relocate an RV-12 wing that he was transporting.

As usual Britt was a great help and the whole process went very well.

 

Made it to my trailer:

 

It was a short drive to the house:

 

The last 50 feet were interesting:

 

This crate was harder to deal with than the fuselage. It was 330lbs and very awkward with just three people.

 

Looks good:

 

The garage is filling up!

 

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Top skin and fuel tank work: 9.6 hours

This blog entry covers work done on 7/25, 7/27 and 7/29:

- Finished installing plate nuts for the fuel tank bolts

- Britt and I made progress on the right wing top skin riveting

- I solo riveted all the I could along the edges of the top skin with the hand squeezer

- Britt and I unpacked the canopy and moved it to a shelf for storage.

 

My highly attractive and highly skilled riveting assistant:

 

We made enough progress to temporarily mount the fuel tank.

 

Canopy storage:

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More top skin riveting: 3 hours

I had a little extra time before work so Britt and I got the riveting around the wing walk doubler done. This is the tightest space riveting so from here on out it just gets easier.

 

Hardest part done:

 

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Worked on fuel tank and ... Canopy Arrived!: 5 hours

I spent the morning installing the many plate nuts for the fuel tank attachment to the leading edge. I also dimpled the tank and joint plate for the #8 screws that help hold it on.

Around lunch I got a call saying that my canopy had arrived at the freight terminal. It was supposed to ship from Vans with the rest of my finishing kit but there was some mix up so the canopy manufacturer shipped it direct to me from Ohio. The canopy I ordered is non standard in that it has extra UV inhibitors in the plexiglas which are supposed to keep the cockpit more cool without an extra dark tint.

The stressful part will be when I have to cut and trim the canopy into two pieces.

 

A big box for the canopy but the shipping weight was only 72lbs.

 

Looks good:

 

Plate nut progress:

 

Plate nuts finished:

 

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Fuel tank and top skins: 10.3 hours

Attached the right wing top skins for riveting and removed the bottom skins for access.

I then spent the majority of the time doing the fit and finish work for the fuel tank: trimming excess sealant, edge finishing, drilling holes for attachment bolts, drilling holes for nut plates in joint strip, opening p holes for #8 screws, edge rolling for fit, etc.

Finally Britt and I spent a couple of hours getting started on riveting the top skins on.

 

Fitting the fuel tank:

 

After some refresher practice we got a couple of ribs riveted.

 

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Top skins ready to rivet: 6.8 hours

The inboard and outboard top skins for the right wing have been: deburred, edge finished, scuffed, dimpled, cleaned and primed.

I also did a little prep work on the aileron gap seal.

 

Dimpling the inboard skin:

 

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Riveted leading edge to main spar: 6.5 hours

I riveted the leading edge ribs to the main spar using the pull rivet method approved by Vans. I then riveted the leading edge skin to the spar with the pneumatic squeezer.

I also spent some time reorganizing the shop and unpacking the right fuel tank / leading edge.

 

Top of right wing leading edge:

Bottom:

 

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Finished riveting ribs to main spar: 5.2 hours

Ribs are now all riveted to both spars.

I also did some miscellaneous prep work. Getting ready for riveting the leading edge onto the main spar.

 

Looks better without the clecos.

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Riveted ribs to rear spar: 3.2 hours

Alll main ribs for the right wing riveted to the rear spar.

 

Handy hand squeezer:

 

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Reassembled skeleton: 2.1 hours

I got all the ribs temporarily attached to the main and rear spars.

I was also able to rivet the outboard rib to the rear spar using the hand squeezer. I plan on using it on all the rear spar to rib rivets as it gives you so much control on tricky rivets (also gives you a workout).

Skeleton ready to rivet:

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Main ribs primed: 3.6 hours

All right wing main ribs cleaned and primed.

Also deburred, scuffed, dimpled, cleaned and primed wing walk doubler.

 

Ready to prime:

 

 

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Rib prep: 7.5 hours

I got all 14 main ribs for the right wing deburred, scuffed and dimpled.

I also cleaned and primed the countersinks on the main spar.

 

Main spar priming:

 

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