Rechecked everything for square including setting up the laser level and checked mounting holes. All checks good.
After a couple test fits I found the nose rib tips would bend when strapping the skin tight. The tips were also scratching the aluminum. Glen Patterson published a technique in Bear Tracks using a MDF nose piece to prevent this so I made 4 to use.
I spent a lot of time checking and rechecking the location of the rib marks on the skin. Another helpful tip was made by John Rheney using a plastic sheet as a layout guide. I decided to try that too. Once I felt everything was right I started center punching the hole locations.
Well I haven't produced any scrap metal in a few days so I guess today is as good a day as any. I still managed to layout the center rip rivet locations incorrectly. I realized it half way through punching the first rib but it was too late. I had to start all over again with a new piece. One thing I failed to do is mark the rib flange crimp locations on the plastic sheet so that's the first thing I did. I'm not using the plastic as my actual layout, only as a back up check. I found that the actual skin and the plastic don't fit the same so I'm a little hesitant to do a take off from the plastic sheet.
Actually it wasn't a bad deal to make a new piece. This one went a lot smoother. One thing I did different this time that really helped is I made a spar line (top) on the aluminum sheet and then used it as a reference when strapping the skin on. That made positioning a lot easier. The spar caps interfere with marking the nose ribs so this takes care of that problem.
The rivet holes are all marked and checked but not drilled yet. I'll recheck everything before I drill.
