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Covering continues...rib riveting, inspection rings and patches... 11/23/03 - I got my typical 11:00 AM Sunday start today and made a pretty good show of things in the shop for once. I managed to get the inspection rings and all the associated pinked-edge patches applied then started AND finished the rib riveting process top and bottom for the right wing. Here are a few photos of the inspection ring and patch application job. I first scuffed-up the rings so they would take the adhesive a little better:
Beginning to apply the inspection rings:
Beginning, continuing and finished with the pinked-edge patches:
Here, I am starting to work on the rib riveting process for the top side. I first applied scotch-type double-sided tape to the fabric over the ribs, then put the lexan strips in place over the ribs onto the tape. In this photo, you can see the strips hanging off the trailing edge:
I then used a small butane-powered torch with a pencil point end attached to melt through the lexan and fabric into the pre-drilled rib holes. After I opened all the rivet holes, I used a single-edge razor blade to (VERY CAREFULLY) remove the melted 'collar' over each hole so the rivets would seat better. In the next photo, I have inserted all the rivets, ready to pull:
In process:
Topside finished:
Starting on the bottom side after applying the double side tape and beginning the lexan strips:
Inserting the rivets:
Bottom side rib riveting finished:
Rib riveting took approximately 1-1/2 hours per side from start to finish with just a couple of glitches, much less time than I had thought it might. The process was also much easier than I had even hoped it might be. I'll tell you now that the top side of this wing has 131 holes from the butane torch today and only 130 of them have rivets installed...the bottom side has 147 holes with 146 rivets. Obviously I wasn't careful enough, my arms were tired or something and once on each side, the torch-point slipped off the lexan strip and poked a VERY QUICK hole in the fabric right alongside the rib. The 2" rib-tape will take care of these two minor errors, but it's not something you do without having your heart jump into your throat when it happens, trust me. In other words, be careful when you are doing this!!! Tomorrow, I'd like to get started on taping the ribs, final adhesive application (everything gets another coat, some items get two) and hopefully start on the edge-taping process. All-in-all, a very good day in the shop for me. The dogs lazed around in the back yard all day (as dogs tend to do) with an occasional chase after the tennis ball when I got the urge to take a short break. Today was apparently our LAST decent day for awhile (high 60's and windy) and we're expecting SNOW-SHOWERS tonight. I believe I'll have an opportunity to be grateful for the new furnace in the shop pretty soon!!! More updates soon... |
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Last Update: 11/23/2003 |
