I spent several hours in the shop getting started on the aft top skin. I had to take the fuselage off of the rotisserie. I will need to get into the aft fuselage and I need the fuselage lower so it will be easier to get into an out of. This took a little time since I was working by myself. I bought a pneumatically powered lift made for ATVs a while back. After making a mount out of a 4x6 I had lying around I used the lift to get the fuselage off the rotisserie stand. I could not lower it enough with the lift under the plane so I set it on jacks and then moved the lift to the front of the fire wall. I was then able to lower the rest of the way down. It now sits just off the floor.
After this administrative stuff it was time to get started, I clecoed the aft skin on. At first I tried to cleco the tops of the bulkheads and worked my way down but the bottom row of holes did not line up with the lower skin holes. I undid everything and tried a different tack that worked. With just a few clecoes in the top of each bulkhead I started in the middle of each side with the holes common between the lower skin and upper longeron. I worked down each bulkhead as I reached them while working forward and aft on the bottom of the skin. This worked like charm, the only issue I have is the very aft bulk head is too narrow at the very bottom. I think I have read where others have had this issue. My though at this point is to make a shim to go in there, but I will email Van’s builder support and get their opinion. I filed down the seatbelt anchors so that they will overlap the flange of the F-808 bulk head. Anita came home about the time I was ready to cleco them in place. I crawled into the fuselage and held the seatbelt anchors in place while she put in a few clecoes. This was an important event, this was the first time I have asked her to help me with the kit. I keep telling her she will have to be the one on the inside of the tail to buck when it comes time to rivet the skin on.
Aft skin clecoed on, fuselage on lower stand
Anita snapped this after helping me clecoo on the seat belt anhors
Gap on the lower left and rigfht of the F810 bulkhead, about .070"
