Posts Tagged Rivet
Aft Fuselsage Riveting Done…For Now (4/11/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 11, 2012
3.0 Hours -
This work session started with riveting together the F-716B assemblies. Once the F-716Bs were riveted, I used some #8 screws to attach them back onto the seat ribs.
The completed F-716B assemblies.
A completed F-716B assembly installed on the seat rib.
With the seat rib modifications complete, I went back to riveting the aft fuselage. There were several points where I wanted to call it a day, but I stuck to it and finally finished. As usual, the aft-most section gave me the most problems. Bucking bar access was challenging at times, and I had to drill out and replace a few rivets. Now, the aft fuselage is riveted up to the level of the upper J-channel. The upper portion of the aft fuselage will remain unriveted for a while so that the skin can be pulled back far enough to allow the longerons to be inserted.
The riveting on the aft fuse is done (for now). The instructions say to only rivet up to the top j-channel, so that's what I did.
The aft-most section of the aft fuselage. Despite my battles with this section, it came together nicely!
Seat Rib Work and a Little More Riveting (4/9/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 9, 2012
1.7 Hours -
Technically, this is aft fuselage riveting day 7, but I spent more time working on the seat ribs than I did riveting the aft fuselage. As far as my riveting progress goes, both sides of the aft fuselage are complete to the F-710 bulkhead. All that remains are the rivets in the F-779 bottom skin and the side skin to F-711/712 bulkhead rivets.
After doing some riveting, I went back to work on the seat ribs. I still had a little deburring/prep work to do, so I completed that first. There are a lot of notes on the plans that tell you what needs to be done, while the instructions just say to prep two ribs this way, two that way, etc. So, careful attention has to be paid to the plans (as always). Among the things that had to be done were enlarging a tooling hole on each rib to 5/8″ for a snap bushing and final drilling platenut attachment points.
Once the prep work was done, I riveted the platenuts to all of the ribs. I also primed the parts for the F-716B rib access assemblies, so these still need to have the platenuts riveted on and the assemblies riveted together. I may or may not prime the entire seat ribs as well. However, I haven’t made that decision yet, as I’ll wait until they are closer to final assembly before priming.
All the nutplates are installed in the seat ribs, and I also enlarged one tooling hole on each rib for a snap bushing.
I decided to prime the seat rib access plates...I'll probably prime the ribs too, since they aren't alclad.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 5 (4/7/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 7, 2012
1.0 Hours -
I really wanted to work much longer today, but, when I went to adjust the pressure in the air line, the regulator on my compressor broke (probably an internal o-ring). Rather than taking apart the regulator and trying to find replacement parts, I decided to just get a new one from Tractor Supply ($25). The quality of the new regulator seems to be a bit higher than the original. Although, I did received 3+ years of service from the original, so I can’t complain too much.
The new regulator is slightly smaller, easier to adjust and higher quality than the old one.
After installing and testing the new regulator, I decided to do a little riveting on the aft fuselage. Focusing on the left side, I riveted the side skin to the bottom skin from the F-707 to the F-708 bulkhead. Then, I riveted up the F-708 bulkhead to the upper j-channel.
Once again, I needed small breaks from riveting. During these breaks, I made two more F-716B seat rib access plates. The kit only comes with two of these, but a common modification is to make two more F-716Bs and modify four seat ribs instead of just two. This modification allows the control column assembly to be removed without disassemble. It’s an easy modification, and I figure it might save me a headache or two later on!
The bottom two F-716Bs came with the kit...the top two are copies I made from scrap aluminum.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 4 (4/6/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 6, 2012
1.8 Hours -
Today, I continued riveting the aft fuselage. Since I could reach all the side skin to bottom skin rivets from the F-706 to the F-707 bulkhead, I started at the forward end and worked back. Once I reached the F-707 bulkhead, I riveted the bulkhead to the side skins, starting at the bottom and working up to the upper J-channel. I stopped at the upper J-channel since the instructions say that the remaining rivets are installed later in order to allow the skin to be pulled back for longeron insertion.
You can't really see the completed riveting in this picture...I just thought it looked cool!
Once I got tired of bucking rivets, I set up my squeezer and riveted the autopilot pitch servo bracket to the F-706 bulkhead assembly. Five rivets + squeezer = quick work!
I needed a break from bucking rivets, so I squeezed the rivets that attached the pitch servo bracket to the F-706 bulkhead assembly.
Side view of the pitch servo bracket.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 2 (3/28/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 28, 2012
1.5 Hours -
I managed to get a little more riveting in today, but no pictures. I started riveting the main structure of the aft fuselage (tail cone). My plan of attack is to rivet the J-channels to the skins first, then the bulkheads to the skins and finish with the bottom skin to side skin. Today, I made it through the forward section of J-channels and about 1/4 of the middle section. Fortunately, access while working solo isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it might be.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Started (3/25/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 25, 2012
3.3 Hours -
I’ve had some other projects to work on, so the plane hasn’t been touched for a couple of weeks. However, today, I finally got around to starting the aft fuselage final assembly.
First, I started working on the F-779/F-711/F-712/WD-409 assembly. The plans are relatively specific about the order in which these parts are riveted, so I decided it was best to follow the instructions. The first step was to rivet the F-712 bulkhead to the F-779 bottom skin. The aft rivets could all be squeezed, as could some of the forward rivets, but I had to pull out the gun and assorted bucking bars for the rest of the forward rivets. Due to the poor fit of these parts (as I’ve complained about many times before), the riveting was a bit tricky at times. Needless to say, it got done!
Once the F-712 bulkhead was riveted to the bottom skin, I riveted the WD-409 tailspring weldment to the F-712 using the two keeper-rivets previously drilled.
The F-712 bulkhead riveted to the F-779 bottom skin. The tailspring weldment is also attached with two keeper rivets.
Next, the F-711 bulkhead was slid into place and riveted to the bottom skin. Almost all the rivets had to be shot/bucked, and some of the ones near the tailspring weldment were a bit tricky to buck. I think I used every bucking bar I own. Once the bulkhead was riveted, I bolted the WD-409 weldment to the F-711. These bolts shouldn’t have to be removed again, so I torqued them and applied inspection lacquer at this time.
After riveting the F-711 bulkhead to the bottom skin, I torqued and marked the nuts on the WD-409 tailspring weldment.
At this point, it was time to, once again, reassemble the aft fuselage structure. It isn’t hard to assemble, but it takes a lot of clecoes and time, so it’s not much fun! I did stray from the plans a bit here. The plans say to reassemble the entire structure and then rivet, but I decided to cleco the bulkheads and J-channels in place, then rivet the bulkheads to the bottom skin before attaching the side skins. My reasoning is simple, I could rivet the bulkheads solo with the skins off…with the skins on, I would need to find a partner.
I riveted the bulkheads to the bottom skin and then clecoed the side skins to the bulkheads/bottom skin. Since everything went back together perfectly, I think it is safe to say that my alteration of the plans worked out OK. It took me a long time to get the side skins clecoed back on, so I decided to call it a day. Next session, I’ll see how much of the structure I can rivet solo. If there are rivets I can’t reach, I think my wife, Amber, is going to get her first lesson in bucking rivets!
I started riveting the bulkheads to the bottom skin.
The aft fuselage got clecoed together one last time.
Bulkheads Finished (1/22/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage, Longerons on January 22, 2012
1.0 Hours -
With a Penguins hockey game and two NFL playoff games on TV today, I only planned for short work session. Priorities, right!
Since I had already primed my F-711 and F-712 bulkhead parts, all that was left was to rivet them. The F-711 needed the bulkhead halves, as well as the F-711C bars riveted together at this time. The F-711D angle won’t get riveted until later in assembly after the skins are on. All of the bulkhead rivets could be reached with the squeezer, so I was a happy camper.
The completed F-711 bulkhead. The F-711D angle doesn't get riveted until after the skins are on.
A side view of the F-711 bulkhead.
The F-712 bulkhead was even easier than the F-711. For the F-712, just the bulkhead halves are riveted together (it’s a bit more complicated if you’re building a tri-gear model). As with the F-711, the squeezer could reach everything, making my short work session that much easier.
The F-712 bulkhead is riveted together with flush rivets on the aft side.
A side view of the F-712 bulkhead.
With these two bulkheads done, all of the bulkheads are finished (for now), and it’s time to move on to something new. Unfortunately, the next step in the plans is to cut and bend the longerons. This seems to be an area where a lot of builders get stressed out, but end up with satisfactory results. To make this a bit easier (I hope), I bought some longeron bending dies off a Vansairforce.net member some time ago. The dies are milled out of a relatively hefty chunk of aluminum, and the idea is to squeeze the longeron in the dies using a vise to make the gentle bend. I’m sure it will be a fun process.
Up next is longeron bending. I bought these dies a long time ago to assist with making the shallow curve.
The longeron dies bend the longerons by squeezing the dies together in a vise.
F-706 Again And Still Not Done (1/18/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 18, 2012
1.5 Hours -
If I had time for one long work session, I could easily wrap up the F-706 bulkhead. Unfortunately, working an hour or two every other day is really dragging out this section. Today, I managed to get the F-730 plate and the F-729 rib riveted to the F-706 base. Once this was riveted, I final-drilled the F-706 sides to the base. Once drilled, I deburred the holes and prepped the sides for priming. With the primer sprayed tonight, I should be able to rivet the sides to the base tomorrow.
The F-706 bulkhead base with the F-730 plate and F-729 rib riveted.
A close-up of the F-706 base structure so far. The scuffing around the upper holes is from my dimple dies...the camera flash really makes any marks pop-out from the shiny aluminum.
The F-706 sides are also being primed. I can't wait to be done with this bulkhead.
F-706 Bulkhead Work (1/15/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 15, 2012
3.0 Hours -
I still feel like I’m doing a lot of work on these bulkheads with little to show for it! Oh well, back at it today.
The first thing I did was to rivet together the, now primed, halves of the F-707 and F-708 bulkheads. One bulkhead had 6 rivets that could be set now and the other had 8. All of these rivets could be squeezed, so they took no time to install. At least I now have a couple finished bulkheads to show for all my work!
The F-707 and F-708 bulkheads are easy to rivet together.
I couldn’t delay the F-706 bulkhead any longer. This is the bulkhead with the really crappy looking parts. Specifically, the sides and bottom are a mess…very warped and ugly aluminum. After deburring the edges of the parts, I attacked them with my fluting pliers in an attempt to get them straight. This was a lot of work and they still aren’t as straight as I would like them to be. However the metal is so thin and flexible that I don’t think it will be a problem if I have to slightly ”pull” them into place with clecoes through the skin when the time comes.
Next, there are three angles pieces that have to be fabricated out of .063 x 3/4 x 3/4 stock. The F-728B and F-729B angles are easy as they just have to be cut to the proper length. However, the F-729C angle takes a bit more work. For this part, the stock is cut to length, and then the plans state to close the angle very slightly to 88.5 degrees. To do this, I just clamped the angle in my vise and continued to close the vise jaws until the angle was closed very slightly. Easy enough.
The plans say to make the angle 88.5 degrees instead of 90...not much of a bend, but it was easy to squeeze closed in my vise.
After bending in my vise, the F-729C angle matches the plans perfectly.
All of the angles that need to be fabricated for the F-706 bulkhead have been made.
With all the angles made, I went ahead and match-drilled the two longer angles to the bellcrank support structure. The F-728B angle was drilled to the F-728A bellcrank channel, and the F-729B angle was drilled to the F-729A bellcrank rib.
The longer lengths of angle have to be match-drilled to the F-728A bellcrank channel and the F-729A bellcrank rib.
Finally, I clecoed the F-706 structure together for the first time. With the structure assembled, I could check the bend on my F-729C angle. It fit perfectly, so no more bending was needed. Next up, the structure will need to be final drilled, but that’s not going to happen today.
The F-706 bulkhead components clecoed together for the first time.
F-705 Bulkhead Riveted (1/4/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 4, 2012
2.7 Hours -
This evening was another work session where I spent a significant amount of time in the garage, but left with a feeling that I didn’t have much to show for my work.
The first thing I did was to cut the slots in the F-705G angles for the tip-up canopy latches. I used my drill press to make two holes, then I connected them using a small filing bit attached to my Dremel. These turned out all right, but definitely not my best work. However, I currently don’t know what will go through this hole, so I’m not going to worry about them too much now. They won’t be riveted to the F-705 structure for quite some time, so I’ll worry about whether or not I need to re-make them at that point.
Drill press, Dremel, and emery cloth was needed to make the slot. Not perfect, but I think it will do.
Next, I finally got to start riveting the F-705 bulkhead together. This was pretty easy since all of the rivets could be reached with my squeezer, but it still took a lot of time. There’s also a lot of holes that are left empty for now since they will be needed for seat/floor ribs or for parts of the canopy structure. The F-705G angles are also left out for now…they get riveted after the skin is riveted to this section.
The F-705 had a lot of areas that do not get riveted yet.
The F-705 bulkhead is riveted...at least as much as it can be at this stage.
The final thing I did for the day was to mark the F-661EF flap bearing blocks for drilling. These are plastic blocks that bolt to the F-705 bulkhead and hold the electric flap weldment. Two bolts will hold each block to the bulkhead, with one hole will getting drilled in each block while on the bench, and the other hole will be drilled using the bulkhead as a guide. For now, I only marked them since the plans recommend using a #10 drill for plastic parts and I don’t have a drill that size. Don’t ask me why, but a #12 drill, which is normally used for an AN3 bolt in metal, won’t work for an AN3 bolt in plastic. Rather than using a fractional drill that is close to the size of a #10, I decided to place an order with aircraftspruce.com. In addition to the #10 drill, I also needed some #40s, #30s, etc., so an order needed to go in any way.
The F-661EF blocks are marked for drilling, but I'm waiting for a #10 drill to arrive from Aircraft Spruce.
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