Fuselage - AFT Section

2005-07-23 - AFT Fuselage Assembly. (3.0 Hrs).

Finished match-drilling the bottom holes in the aft fuselage, finished the rear tiedown, cut apart a cleco, and disassembled the fuselage for deburring and dimpling. I, also, cut-off the pieces of angle for the rudder stop, but decided not to cut them to shape. The instructions said to look at DWG 27A to see how the rudder stops fit, so you can make sure that you leave the correct hole open. Of course, being me, I started cutting off pieces of angle, and marking the parts so I could cut them to shape.

So, why did I finish the rear tiedown? Well, when I looked at the plans, I thought I had forgotten to finish the tiedown and rivet it to the F-712 bulkhead. I forgot that I had already read the instructions where it said this would be done later when the VS is installed. However, I have to say, there is no way that you are going to be able to dimple the F-712 bulkhead for the tiedown, once the aft fuselage is riveted together. Therefore, you need to finish the tiedown and mark the holes so the F-712 bulkhead can be drilled and dimpled. So, it makes sense to finish the tiedown now, and rivet it on, leaving open the four holes specified by the plans.

So, what's up with cutting the cleco apart? I have been having to toss quite a few clecos that just wobble around in the holes, and don't hold. I wanted to look inside and see why they were going bad, and whether there was anything that I could do to fix them. I'm not sure why they are going bad, and I don't see anything that I can do about it.

The insides of a cleco.

I drilled the first hole in the upper right. Then I realized that the tiedown was on the wrong side of the bulkhead.

So, the upper-right hole became the upper left hole.

The problem with the Tatco longeron yoke is that you need extra long dimple dies to use it. The washers work, but this is awkward to use. The dies do not go far enough into the squeezer to be held in place, so they can fall out.

Tiedown complete. I just hope things line-up when I install the vertical stabilizer.

Once you drill all of the holes, you have to take it all apart and do the dimple, debur routine. Right skin ready to remove.

Ready for the left side.

Back to where we started.

	The insides of a cleco.
	I drilled the first hole in the upper right. Then I realized that the tiedown was on the wrong side of the bulkhead.
	So, the upper-right hole became the upper left hole.
	The problem with the Tatco longeron yoke is that you need extra long dimple dies to use it. The washers work, but this is awkward to use. The dies do not go far enough into the squeezer to be held in place, so they can fall out.
	Tiedown complete. I just hope things line-up when I install the vertical stabilizer.
	Once you drill all of the holes, you have to take it all apart and do the dimple, debur routine. Right skin ready to remove.
	Ready for the left side.
	Back to where we started.