Basically I finished up the center section, riveted it, clecoed it to the completed tail cone, added the longerons (just "slipped in place" as Van's calls it), then added the side skins and started working through the next steps. There will be a lot of work before anything gets riveted again.
Center section:
The remaining work was mostly match drilling, deburring, cutting some holes for wiring bushings, dimpling everything and then riveting it.
Once I clecoed everything together, I decided it would be easiest to stand it vertically. That way Becca could hold the bucking bar on one side and I could back rivet from the other with the long rivet set. It worked well.
Before riveting. The section is oriented nose down. The bulkhead against the table is the aft half of the spar carrythrough (the wings will bolt to that). The middle bulkhead that sticks out is where the seat backs will ultimately attach. The lower ribs are where the seat bottoms will be. The upper ribs support the baggage area.
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We were able to back rivet 80% or more of the rivets. Had to buck the tight spots. Becca and I were able to knock it out in about an hour. Thanks Becca!
Here is the completed center section after riveting.
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Here I've added the baggage and seat skins. This stiffens the structure even more and gives you a much better idea of what it will look like. The square holes on the lower skins are where the control sticks will eventually go. The elevator pushrod will fit inside the open slot that goes aft from the seats. That will be covered by a "tunnel" to protect it.
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This is what it will look like in the aircraft. Yes, I tried sitting on it (of course...)
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Once that was done it was time to mate the center section with the tail cone.
Basically everthing gets flipped upside down and supported on saw horses. The idea is to line everything up, slide the longerons into the two sections, then cleco everything together. There is a lot of fitting and opportunity for things to not line up very well. I had to go at it two or three times before I could get it hooked up. For me, the key turned out to be starting with the aft line of rivets on the bottom, then adding the side skins and start with the aft line there as well. Once I did that it all fit very nicely.
Here it is all clecoed together - the sides haven't been added yet
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Everything is together and I've verified (amazingly) that the longerons were almost bang on. Everything lines up and I'm getting ready to drill the step holes, then bend the side skin (the "shark fins" sticking up on each side) to fit the tail cone.
Bending the shark fins to fit is pretty tricky. The forward part is almost a tight 90 degrees. The aft part is a gentle curve. All that is accomplished in about 12" of skin.
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Drilling the side skin for the boarding step. Steps are optional (not really needed on a tail dragger). Since mine is a tri gear I'll have them on both sides.
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Unfortunately, the first skin I did (right side) ended up cracking slightly just aft of the relief hole :<.
I must have bent it a bit too far (or too often). Stop drilling will take care of it spreading. The step plate will be riveted over this area which will make it super strong.
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