Date:	1-29-2012
Number of Hours:	5.90
Brief Description:	Riveted Vertical Stabilizer - Part 1
My back seems to be much better today, so I started this session by drilling out and replacing 3 HS skin to rib rivets that were mis-set two days ago, due I believe, to the HS not being fixed to a stable work surface. I spent the remainder of the session completing the riveting of the vertical stabilizer. One thing I've re-learned since starting to build again is that riveting goes MUCH better when the parts being riveted are fixed to a stable surface, and in a position where the riveting tools, whether it be a squeezer or gun and bar, can be used in a comfortable posiiton.I kind of took this fact for granted with the Rocket, as its parts were built in jigs. I did not build jigs for the RV-7 empennage, but I would have used the RV-4 jigs if I still had them. After chasing the HS all over the bench and floor a couple of days ago, I came up with a couple of better solutions for the VS. Though photo 1 doesn't show it, I used spring clamps to secure the skeleton to the edge of the bench for riveting. After clecoing the skin to the front spar and ribs, I secured the assembly to the bench vertically as shown in Photo 2. Note the 2x4 at the bottom to support the main root rib. (If you build Chapter 1000-type workbenches, I recommend leaving about a 2-inch overhang all the way around for just such clamping.) The vertical orientation of the VS allowed me to do the riveting from a very comfortable standing position, though I did need a footstool to finish the top 6-8 rivets on each side of the front spar. I had NO mis-set rivets using the gun with this setup.