This section has been going on for a while. I just was too busy to update my log.
The beginning of this section requires connecting some major pieces together. There's going to have to be some re-arranging of the work space to accommodate the large pieces going together.
After you get them in and bolted together there's a TON of match drilling, clecos and deburring. This will later be met with endless counter sinking. 🤫
Then you install the step brace with the brake fluid brass elbow that will need to be at 7Degrees off square. I used a clever little iPhone app to make this easy. Also use plenty of boelube and make sure you support the back end of the belly or the step brace will not go in.
Once you are ready to start riveting you will need to mount the belly on its side, so you create a job using a wooded block through the bulkheads where the wing spar will be. This cause me a lot of anxiety sleeping and having a nightmare of the thing crashing down. So I personally mounted it with clamps and then jigged it's agains the wall to ensure it could not move. Many builders have done similar things.
Before you rivet you get to add more tank sealant. Yippee…I never get sick of that stuff 😳. At any rate, I'm getting a lot better at using the black tar so I suppose it's not terrible.
Then you install some #5 cherry rivets that actually broken my rivet head. I had to order a new one and ended up using my cheap ARROW rivet gun to pull these monsters. Access was not a problem for these so I recommend using the cheap rivet gun.
After this was finished my mentor and I put in a couple good sessions to rivet the entire bottom skins together. It went very quickly with two people but you will need to remove the step braces and bolts so don't bother torquing any hardware until you finish this all.
Oh and that long skinny bucking bar you use on the elevators, make sure you have that ready for whoever is on the bucking bar. There's quite a few obstacles in between those bulkheads.