Vertical Stabilizer Skin

Today I riveted the vertical stabilizer skin to the forward spar and ribs, clecoed on the rear spar, and started riveting the skin to the rear spar. It was getting late and I was tired, so I decided to stop before I started making mistakes.

First, each family member signed one of the inside skins, leaving a few secret messages.

Then I started with some more experimenting with my adjustable squeezer set, and with some practice parts to get my rivet bucking skills somewhat current. I set up a cradle of cardboard and clean rags to keep the VS on it’s edge, which seemed like the best approach for bucking rivets.

Overall, I was happy with the way everything turned out. I had to drill out two rivets, both times the bucking bar slipped off the rivet. I was able to remove both without enlarging the hole, so replaced with the same sized rivet. The second rivet was annoying, as I somehow put a minor dent in the rib and skin when the bar slipped. I’m not sure how it happened, but the result is a slight bump in the skin near the rivet. The main thing is that the rivet set well the second time. You can see how the light is slightly distorted around the middle rivet in the picture below.

I was able to squeeze rivets along the edges of the skins, even the most forward holes on the top rib.

I can see why the plans recommend setting the manufactured heads aft on the rear spar. There is very little room to get at the skins rivets along the rear spar. I did the easy rivets with the squeezer, but I didn’t want to tackle those with less clearance tonight. I’ll try to finish up the remaining rivets on this piece tomorrow.