Tonight I planned to back rivet the rib, doubler, and j-channel to the top skin. Unfortunately I ran into a couple of problems, and was only able to backrivet the j-channel. The rib has a flange on the bottom edge which makes back riveting this impossible without an offset backrivet set. I don’t ah e one, and don’t feel like buying one for this job. I decided to backrivet the doubler plate rivets that were not passing through the rib, but i noticed in several cases there were some cracks forming around the edges of the dimples. I ended up drilling it out and ordering a new doubler plate. On closer inspection, it looks like I didn’t debur these holes enough. It’s also true that some of the cracks were just the primer clacking, as I had dimples this part after priming it. I set it all aside for now and moved on.
In the mail today was my longer flush rivet set. I made quick work of setting the last few rivets on the aft deck.
The next step after finishing the aft deck is to final drill several holes between the vertical stabilizer and the rear lost bulkhead. These are drilled out to #12 and 1/4 inch, and must be drilled perpendicular to the vertical stab. These are bolt holes, and the heads and nuts need to be square to develop the right clamping force. After some fiddling around, I was able to mount the VS. it was fun to see two parts coming together like this. I did have to drill out one hole on the aft fuse to allow the #30 drill bit to hold the parts in position. Flipping through the builders manual, I couldn’t find a place where this hole is final sized. I drilled it out and then everything fit just fine. I decided not to drill these final bolt holes until I can create a drill block that will help me keep the angles correct. I went ahead and ordered a bar of aluminum, and some brass sleeves.