Began to build the substructure for the left elevator. Countersunk the holes that attach Rib E-705 to the spar. I tested my countersink on some scrap to check the depth of the cutters. It seemed that in order to get the head of the rivet flush with the aluminum, I risked the chance of enlarging the pilot hole due to the torque and pressure of the drill motor. I removed the cutters and installed them on my deburing tool. It acted like an old fashion twist drill. It worked well because I could control the speed and depth much more accurately without damaging the pilot hole.
Next I riveted the elevator horn (E-703/E-704) to the main spar.
I back riveted all the skin stiffeners to the skin including the trim motor doubler. After I completed this, I noticed that I had forgoten to attach the nutplates to the doubler before installing it. Seemed like a simple problem to fix; I'll just use my trusted rivet squeezer. No such luck. The jaws of my squeezer will not fit across the skin far enough to get to the ones closest to the center. I tried to move my squeezer into the hole itself; no go. I tried to use a flush rivet set and buck them also. It was hard to find a way to lock down the skin to keep it from flopping around while I worked the rivet gun.
Called it quits for today. Nothing has been damaged but I got that feeling that if I pushed the issue any farther...
I'll see if I can't find some solutions from Candyland (aka Avery).
