RV7-Factory

Started the Right Skeleton

Not too many pictures today. I took care of a few “Honey-Do’s” and then headed to the shop. With all the parts primed and ready to back rivet the stiffeners on, I went to it. I like back riveting, it goes fast. Set the gun up, tape in the rivets, stack the parts, and smash them together. I knocked out the stiffeners and trim access doubler pretty quick. The next thing in the manual is to bend the skins shut to then attach them to the skeletons. I am very nervous about that step and have yet to build my bending brake so I was near to a standstill. I decided to start on the Right Elevator Skeleton as far as I could before needing the skin post smash.

I was able to fit the counterbalance weight in the skin and begin the skeleton assembly. I drilled the counterbalance weight and match drilled all the plate nuts for the hinge points and prepped the ribs in the counterbalance. At the end of the day, I had a skeleton that was match drilled as much as I could before needing the skin. I guess it is time to study up and get the brake made and make the “bend!” I’ll read up on it tomorrow and maybe tackle it on Monday after family night.