Today I completed the riveting of the F-811 bulkhead assembly to the aft bottom skin. After trying unsuccessfully to use the solid rivets called out in the plans, I completed the task with flush blind rivets. Aside from problems getting on the rivets with a bucking bar, the bulkhead flanges wouldn't lay completely flush against the inside of the skin. This made it extremely difficult to get a good result when setting the rivets. The blind rivets allowed me to keep some pressure on the flanges while pulling the rivet. I prefer solid rivets, but I got a better result in this case with the blind rivets.
The aft bottom skin with its bulkheads was then attached to the lower longerons and the resulting assembly was clecoed to the side skins. Next the remaining fuselage bulkheads were inserted and clecoed. Finally, the forward bottom skin was clecoed to the fuselage structure. Getting the bottom skin installed took a little time and careful "persuasion" to get it positioned. The bottom skin is overlapped by the mid side skins and the bottom center skins while it in turn overlaps the aft bottom skin.
The F-857C angles were inserted and clecoed.The aft ends of the F-818 baggage bulkheads were riveted to the F-808 bulkhead assembly. All skins, bulkheads, and longerons were liberally clecoed in preparation for final riveting.
I now have to decide how best to position the fuselage for riveting the structure. The manual says to flip it upside down on saw horses but I wonder if some sort of rotisserie type jig might be better. Of course, that would require some thought, design, and more expense.
