Brief Description: More prep for rudder assembly (7-7)
I attached the backing plates and plate nuts to the rudder spar and did some practice back riveting. I was able to use the squeezer for all the attachment hardware to the spar. Just need to make sure to pay attention to the rivet call outs, or you will get to practice drilling out rivets. Next was to do a little practice back riveting with my freshly mounted steel plate tabletop. I routed out a section so I could drop the back plate in and have it flush with the table. In practice this worked well, and I was starting to get the hang of how long to pull the trigger to get the right set. Next it was time to try the real thing. I inserted the rivets into the top row of the rudder skin where the short rib would be located, applied the tape to hold the rivets, then flipped over the skin. I made sure that all 6 rivets were over the steel plate and I though I was ready to go. I set all 6 rivets and checked them to make sure they were correctly set…except…oh no…I forgot to include the rib…brilliant. Ok now I get to practice drilling these rivets out. I obviously need practice since I damaged the skin slightly when the rivet popped out with the pressure of pushing on the drill. My first hint would be: don’t forget the attaching hardware when back riveting (or any type of riveting). My second hint would be to make sure when drilling out rivets that the drill bit will hit something (tabletop, piece of wood, etc.) before it slides down and hits the skin when the rivet comes loose. The skin doesn’t look too bad and I’m sure I will more opportunities to mess this up before I’m done, so pressing forward.
Attaching backing plate and plate nuts to rudder spar (21-013)
