6/4/2007
Tonight I had a goal of getting the aft deck F-714 riveted in place so I didn't have to worry about anything shifting on me. I started out by making the 714 spacers that go under the aft deck. I didn't do this before...the plans don't say anything about it. Gotta be vigilant at this stage.
These were then drilled in place using duck tape to hold them in position under the deck skin.
Then they were deburred and primed. Here you can see them laying in place with holes drilled. Also, I hadn't yet set the two rivets holding the elevator up stop in place, so I did that.
And with everything cleco'd and lined up, I riveted the aft deck in place.
Talk about rigid! This thing is stout!! After all the riveting back there, I still have ZERO twist in the fuselage.
The only other thing I did tonight was to take care of a rub the 706 bulkhead had on the longeron. I noticed this the other day, but wanted to wait to do anything about it until after the aft deck was riveted on. I fixed this VERY carefully using the Dremel and a super thin cutoff wheel on the lowest speed setting.
Turned out good, but I may need some touch up paint. ;o) You can see the area of missing black paint where it was rubbing. These bulkheads will not move once the top skins are in place, but vibrations could cause a bad wear line in the longeron. All the others are close, but fine.
2.25 hours