A while back I decided to re-do the aft portion of the upper tailcone skin. When I fitted / drilled the skin the first time, I put to much tension on the straps and deformed the bulkheads a bit.
I ordered a replacment skin and it arrived at the perfect time.
My friend Ilya is out visiting for a week and he is looking forward to doing some work on the plane.
The replace the skin, we marked the centerline on the new skin and pre-formed the aft portion of the skin a bit (using a shipping tube some parts fron Vans came in). This time no straps were used, the skin was set on the bulkheads, centered and the forward edge taped on top of the forward skin.
With Ilya in the tailcone he backdrilled a portion of the skin and stringers. We then removed the forward skin and replaced it on top of the rear skin. We backdrilled the remainder of the bulkhead, stringer and then longeron holes.
To match-drill the forward edge of the skin, I set my drill stop to drill only about halfway through the aft skin. Using for forward skin as a guide, I pilot-drilled the rear skin. we then removed the skin and I finished drilled the holes and trimmed the forward edge of the skin.
The skin came out great. This was pretty easy with Ilya's help!
Ilya in the tailcone
The skin is almost done, just a few holes let to drill
