4.5 hrs. working on fuselage sub-assemblies.

As I noted in my last post the holes in parts Rib 901 and Angle 6 did not line up and it turns out it was because the flange bend in 901 was distorted as you can see here.  I've found this kind of problem a bit tricky to fix in the past, so this time I made a tool to help...

A piece of wood with a slot in it to push down on the flange without bending it.

Before.

Some banging on the wood yielded a better bend.  Still required some more banging without the slot tool, but I got it to the point where the holes are reasonably lined up.

Here's after the miscellaneous banging.  Much better.

These rivet holes needed to be countersunk and I found that was easiest to do it with my deburring tool.

And all the rivnuts are installed!

Checking the fit of the tail cone sub-assembly.

 You do the Rib 6 assembly first so you can get the rivet gun in there (that is noted in the instructions).

And the rear rib assembly is done!

Here's the jig for the next set of ribs.

Rib 5 assembly in place.

Making sure they're lined up perfectly with the jig.

Rib 5 assembly was done, but I forgot to take a picture.  This is of the top of the Rib 4 assembly and there's an issue....  Those two tabs have to overlap and the 4 holes should rivet together.  But, it's clear to see they won't line up...  Wrote to the factory to see what they say.

NEXT TASKS:

1. Rib 4 assembly issue resolution and meanwhile I can start on the Rib 3 assembly.
2. Need to find the rudder and elevator guides for these assemblies as they weren't in the Rib assembly parts bags.
3. Fill bottom rivets of elevator and fillet the composite tips of it to the skin (to be done in "spare" time).
4. Rivet the one on the left wing's step rib that needs special handling.?? (to be done in "spare" time).