Aft fuselage

Before I put the aft decking on my inspector popped round to check on progress.  I particularly wanted him to look where I had put a MK319 blind rivet where I had drilled out a…

Got on with riveting the nutplates for the access panels and fairings after my riveting partner deserted me again 😉. Managed to squeeze them all with the longeron yoke although some are very tight. Next…

Finally got the side panels riveted to the lower skin and bulkheads. We turned the assembly on its side which made access a lot easier.  I was going to back-rivet but we decided to buck…

It’s a lot easier with an aircraft engineer with you!  Whole row of rivets and more complete in about 30 mins and it only cost me a dinner.  Just the lower skin to finish and…

I’m sure if you attacked this all in one go then you could see it nearly finished in a day.  I have been going back and forth for a few days now and the side…

Whilst waiting for the apprentice riveter to recover from his hangover (kids…), I got on with the rudder cable guides. These have to be countersunk which I did by hand as it isn’t critical, just…

Before the side panels are riveted all the wiring and static lines have to be installed along with the rudder cables. It’s not a difficult job but it does take a little bit of study…

Had a go at riveting the aft lower skin to the bulkheads but decided it was all too difficult on my own.  Screwed up one hole which I had to use a MK319 blind rivet…

The aft fuselage skin has to be cleco’d in place and then the tail spring mount is temporarily mounted to the aft bulkhead. Placing the aft fuselage skin takes a little bit of thought and…

Sides onto bulkheads and lower skin.  Helps if you have the longerons on the right side!  Thought I could get away without labelling them after priming  but they are very similar and only when I…