Fuselage - Center Section

2005-09-11 - Assembling the center Fuselage--finally. (5.0 Hrs).

I was ready to start assembling the center section, but I found a few more holes that were not drilled and dimpled.

Forgot to drill the holes in the seat ribs where the bolts attach the ribs to the F-704 AFT bulkhead. So, cleco the ribs back on, drill them, remove them, deburr them.

Every rib, top hole and bottom hole.

Also, happened to notice on the plans, that the two outside F-716 ribs do not have their flanges in the same direction. That's right, both the left and right sides have an F-716L and an F-716R. This picture shows the improperly installed rib.

Finally, got to set some rivets. I was just about done with the rivets in F-704, when I said to myself that all of these rivets went well. Then wham! The bucking bar slipped and this is the result. I considered drilling this rivet out, and then using the uni-bit to drill a 1/2" hole here, but decided to just leave it--it'll be ok.

Another picture of the screw-up.

Seat ribs riveted to the aft F-704 bulkhead, and bolts installed.

I started to cleco the F-776 bottom skins to the skelton, and noticed that someone had already riveted the forward holes of the seat ribs to F-704. The rivet in this picture is actually under the skin.

What was I thinking? Anyway, drill all of these out.

F-776 clecoed on, ready to rivet. I'm tired, and I've made a lot of mistakes today. Should I start riveting, or should I wait until next week?

Well, I went ahead and started riveting the seat ribs to the bottom skins. If I had waited, and done a final inspection, I might have noticed that some idiot forgot to dimple the last hole in this rib.

Well, other than that one hole, this was a good start. It looks like I can rivet all of these ribs by myself, except for the two center ribs. Of course, I will have to rivet left-handed on the other side, which might limit my reach a little. That's enough for today.
Update 11-30-05 - do not rivet the F-704 now. See the Fuselage Center Section 11-25-05 for when the screw-up was detected.

	Forgot to drill the holes in the seat ribs where the bolts attach the ribs to the F-704 AFT bulkhead. So, cleco the ribs back on, drill them, remove them, deburr them.
	Every rib, top hole and bottom hole.
	Also, happened to notice on the plans, that the two outside F-716 ribs do not have their flanges in the same direction. That's right, both the left and right sides have an F-716L and an F-716R. This picture shows the improperly installed rib.
	Finally, got to set some rivets. I was just about done with the rivets in F-704, when I said to myself that all of these rivets went well. Then wham! The bucking bar slipped and this is the result. I considered drilling this rivet out, and then using the uni-bit to drill a 1/2" hole here, but decided to just leave it--it'll be ok.
	Another picture of the screw-up.
	Seat ribs riveted to the aft F-704 bulkhead, and bolts installed.
	I started to cleco the F-776 bottom skins to the skelton, and noticed that someone had already riveted the forward holes of the seat ribs to F-704. The rivet in this picture is actually under the skin.
	What was I thinking? Anyway, drill all of these out.
	F-776 clecoed on, ready to rivet. I'm tired, and I've made a lot of mistakes today. Should I start riveting, or should I wait until next week?
	Well, I went ahead and started riveting the seat ribs to the bottom skins. If I had waited, and done a final inspection, I might have noticed that some idiot forgot to dimple the last hole in this rib.
	Well, other than that one hole, this was a good start. It looks like I can rivet all of these ribs by myself, except for the two center ribs. Of course, I will have to rivet left-handed on the other side, which might limit my reach a little. That's enough for today. Update 11-30-05 - do not rivet the F-704 now. See the Fuselage Center Section 11-25-05 for when the screw-up was detected.