Van's RV-9A in Aurora

The Big Picture

The Big Picture
Flying! 8/28/2011

Sunday, February 1, 2009

5 hrs, 367 rivets
A new one day rivet record! And knocking on the door of 5000 rivets, about the 25% mark, at least in terms of rivets.
Started today by masking the right tank skin to prepare for rib riveting. Then clecoed the interior ribs into the skin. This is way easier once everything is match drilled and dimpled. It becomes a one person job. After they were all in, remove the center rib and cleaned it one last time, along with the skin. Ready to proseal and rivet.



Then John McLellan (bro-n-law) came over to help with riveting. I decided to get the outboard wing skin done so I can get that wing off the stand and into the cradle. After training him we banged out some rivets, getting most of it done before he had to go home to get ready for the superbowl party. He sent Suanne over (my sister). She took a bit longer to train, but pretty soon she was going, "Oh, yah. Perfect!" Together with Suanne, we knocked out the rest of the outboard skin, except for a few rivets on the rear spar that I'll hit with a squeezer once it's on the cradle.



Now I'm ready for some football!