Brief Description: Seat Rib Sub 11) rivet / finish up
Tonight (and some tomorrow) we finished the riveting of the bottom skins (F-826-1 and F-827-1) to the rear spar subassembly and the seat ribs. Logistically, this is a pretty tough job to do by yourself so I made a call to the "bullpen" and brought in the ace! Teresa came out and held the big flat bucking bar on the machine heads of the flush rivets. I used the extended back-rivet set and set them with ease. Teresa did a great job, and we only had to drill out and re-do 2 rivets...1 was my fault and the other was an early learning curve rivet. :) After about 5 rivets, we were in a good rythym! I used the bike hoist to lower and raise the assembly so we could rivet at a comfortable height...it all worked out really well.
It was great to have the wife out there with me and she even said afterwards - "You really don't think about anything ELSE while you are out there - it's really a stress release." Yep - Exactly another benefit to building an airplane.
I am proud of her - she's been my best friend for 26 years, and 21 years ago tomorrow she came through BIG TIME... in the clutch, she safely delivered, with some close calls for both of them, my wonderful son. I really do have a great life!
