Didn't have time to work on the RV today, but I did stop by Jeff's hangar. He was kind enough not to laugh at my noob questions, looked at (and approved) my machine countersinking of the HS-903 spar. He said they were just about perfect.
He was also kind enough to give me a back riveting demo as well as show me now the dimple/countersink combo pulled up tight once you riveted it. I had mocked up a skin/spar setup with cheap piece of 1/8" aluminum bar from Lowe's aircraft supply matched up with a piece of the scrap skin that Van's "gives" you. It came out really nice actually.
Also got an appreciation for the skills you develop when you've riveted a lot. Jeff laid his gun up against a piece of wood, gave it a couple of taps to get it dialed in, then banged out 3 quick rivets just by ear. Perfect.
My tries were not so smooth. He suggested holding the back rivet set so it doesn't walk on you.
Both he and Tim R mentioned getting the V-groove deburring tool. Don't have one of those yet.
When we were at lunch Tim mentioned he had used the aircraft spruce epoxy primer. He said it worked much better than anything else he'd tried. Also recommended the cheap ($39) HLVP gun from Harbor Freight. Have to look at that guy.
Helped Nick with the mains - we're putting new tires/tubes on Tango now that we're done with our annual. Hopefully the airstop tubes will do as well as the nose wheel. Gets old trying to air up the mains every few days, especially with those wheel pants in the way.
