Tail Cone Riveting Part #7

 Got started tonight by finishing up the aft deck area with the hardware.  I put all the hardware in but did not torque any of it.  Some of the bolts are a little short for my taste so I will either change them to the next size longer or go with thin washers where full thickness ones are called out in the plans.

This support brace had to be match drilled with the HS stab rear spar mount bars that have a pre-punched hole in them.  They have you temporarily bolt the brace down to the aft deck then match drill the hole with a 1/8" bit then drill it up to a #12.   I used a 12" bit to drill the 1/8" hole but I had to use my angle drill adapter to drill it up to #12 due to clearance issues with the drill motor.  I have a 12" #12 bit ordered so I don't have to worry about that in the future.  I know I will need it when I go to mount the HS front spar mounts to the aft deck.  Anyway I got all of the drilling complete then removed it all, deburred the holes and then touched up the primer with rattle can stuff over the AKZO.  That is why this part is darker green.  I then proceeded to rivet the brace and the doubler in place.  These rivets are not the easiest to drive due to the weird positions you have to get into to get them.  I got through it and was happy with the results.  Then the bolts go in.   Again I did not torque anything yet.

 Same area on the other side.  Those small 470AD3 rivets are a little too short but that is the longest ones Van's provides and I don't have any others.  The two green stripes are where I touched up scratches made by my angle drill adaptor.

Bolts also go into the elevator stop brace.

 This is the underside of the HS front spar mounting area/bulkhead on the co-pilot side.  I like a few more threads than this showing so I will likely change these to longer at final assembly time.

  This is the underside of the HS front spar mounting area/bulkhead on the co-pilot side.  I like a few more threads than this showing so I will likely change these to longer at final assembly time.

 This is the HS rear spar mounting area with the vertical mounting bars.  Pilot's side.  These are a good length.

  This is the HS rear spar mounting area with the vertical mounting bars.  Co-pilot's side.  These are a good length.

 This is the bolt at the elevator stop/brace, co-pilot's side.  Again a little short for me.

  This is the bolt at the elevator stop/brace, pilot's side.  Again a little short for me.

 I then cleco'ed the aft top skin onto the tailcone to get ready to rivet it on for good.

Tail Cone Riveting Part #6

Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for riveting this tail cone together.....

Tonight I got started by riveting the side skins to the longerons in the area under the aft deck.  Left out the rivets for the emp fairing attach screw holes.

Then I cleco'ed the entire aft deck to the tail cone with cleco's in every hole for good alignment and no twisting.

Next I started riveting parts for good.  Started in the back.

 Then riveted the elevator stop brace.

And then riveted the aft deck to the longerons.  Skipped the area called out in the plans around the HS attach bars.  Finally I rived the aft most top bulkhead to the deck.

I used a combination of longeron yoke and 4" no hole yoke and the squeezer to rivet most of these rivets.  A few had to be bucked.  I wish I had a 3" regular yoke!  My longeron yoke is 2.5" and my larger regular yoke is also 2.5".  A 3" would allow more access.  I don't like to use the 4" no hole yoke on 1/8" rivets due to the springiness of it.  You have to be super careful to align it very well to prevent tippers.