First set some missing rivets. I saw I still hadn't set the 3 rivets on the inside of F-705F channel. All the rivets on the longeron had been squeezed but these had to be set with the rivet gun. Shot them with Cindy and now I'm ready make the final isntallation of the F-757-S gusset plate and the F-721B canopy decks (or side rails as I call them).
First squeezed the AN470 universal head rivets that attached the F-757-S plate to the F-705F channel. No brainer but you have to remove some clecoes again on the outboard front one because the rivet set head is too large and interferes with the canopy deck. Take some rivets out and you can pull the canopy deck a bit outboard giving you enough room.
Then I wondered if I had to set the three #30 hole rivets now. Looked on the plans and saw that they can be set now, but that these are AN426 flush rivets. Damn, forgot to countersink these, so quickly took out my countersink cage and countersunk for those holes on both sides.
Then installed the side rail with all clecoes again and started scratching my head on how to set these. At first I thought that it would not be possible to use the pneumatic squeezer but if you are carefull and patient, using the G- yoke and a thin flat head die on the inside, you can get the yoke underneath the canopy deck and then turn the squeezer up in the vertical position. Makes it much easier than crawling inside the fuselage and setting blindly with a bucking bar.
All the rivets seen in the picture below were set with the squeezer. The rest willl have to be shot and bucked as the opening is too narrow in those location to be able to get the yoke in.
Cindy wasn't around so the gun rivetting will have to wait till tomorrow.
In the meantime, squeezed a missing universal rivet holding the longeron F-718 to F-724 aft fuselage bulkhead
In all my optimism I almost squeezed also the F-902 to the longeron but then remembered there is a note on DWG23 telling you to wait with this one until the sub panel structures are drilled.
A task which is easier now than later when the top skins will be on is installing the rudder cables. These run through plastic busings and the easies way to do this is to start from the front.
Remove the bushing from the bulkhead and squeeze them gently. That way, the rear connection point of the cable can slip through and also the plastic bushing at the end of the cable easily slips through the bushing. Once passed, click the bushing back and repeat for each bulkhead.
rear outside view where the cable exists the fuselage
Cable routing in front of F-710
Global overview.
