Brief Description: Began riveting the bottom skins
I finally got back on the project tonight by tackling the task of riveting the skins on the fuselage. I started by riveting the bottom aft most skin. I am not sure if it was because I have not riveted anything with the rivet gun in so long, or because of the tight fit back there, but it was a bear to rivet on this little skin. I had to drill out several rivets. In some holes, the bulkhead hole was a little too large, so I ended up drilling it out and using an "oops" rivet (it has a 3/32" head and a 1/8" shaft) in several places. Also, I had to use shims made up of 1/2" squares of aluminum sheet (.025" thick) to fit some gaps between the fuselage bulkheads and the skins. Each shim had a dimpled hole so that everything would fit just right. By the end of the night, I finally got into a rythm and started riveting a little steadier. I am hoping that Sam will come by soon so that we can really start slamming rivets!
1/2" square shims to fit in gaps between the skin and bulkheads
It was a bear to set these rivets because of the tight fit
The aft bottom skin all riveted on (look Ma, no clecoes)
