When can you put the fuse on the rotisserie?

[tkatc]

At what point is it appropriate to put the fuse on the "engine stand" rotisserie? I have the fuse all clecoed together for the final time and have come to the "skin riveting" section. The plans talk about small sawhorses and turning it upside down for ease of riveting but I imagine it would be even easier mounted on the rotisserie. I have already drilled the motor mounts and I'm ready to go....just wondering if the "unriveted" structure can support itself. If you can lift it to move it or flip it upside down I suppose you could mount it to a rotisserie but I would hate to have a major accident here....

[SmilingJack]

Sorry TK. I don't know about this one....

But, I would "guess" having it supported by saw horses until you make the fuselage into a "canoe" would be better.

I'm just thinking that supporting the fuselage on the front and the back would not give it enough support while you rivet and maybe chance having it "sag" in the middle.

Hopefully some of our "engineer" guys will chime in on this.

Sorry don't even feel I gave you my 2cents

[tkatc]

Nobody else?

[riseric]

Not there yet also...

But you could do like for the wings, where when they're on the stand held at each end, you put a support underneath in the middle area so the spar doesn't "sag".

If at all possible...

But like I said, I'm not there yet...

[Flyin4Fun]

I just rolled my canoe. I used the upside/sawhorse method. If you level the horses side to side, there is much less chance of building a twist into the fuse. Place one horse under the main bulkhead and another just aft of center of the tail cone. The major parts are then balanced and it is easy to make up the lap joint. I really believe that if you only support the fuse on the ends will end up with a bow at the lap. Besides it is much easier to shoot the gun from the top and hold the bucking bar up from underneath. The rivets have less of a tendency to fall out too.

[lorne green]

I would think once you are ready to "flip the canoe", it's ready for the rotisserie. I'm building a 7a QB, so it was ready for the rotisserie right out of the box.

Funny, I've see lots of building sites that show folks with their fuses mounted to their rotisseries but have yet to rivet the firewall to the fuse. Only cleakoed.
I had my fuse hanging off the rotisserie with the firewall only cleakoed for months. It seems there is plenty of collective holding strength in these cleakos.

[bret]

If you are talking about riveting the aft and center, it is nice to have it upsidedown on three horses, just relax on a chair and buck. It is much easier to sit and reach up than bending over and reaching in to buck.

[Don Patrick]

I just put mine on the spit the other day. The forward skins haven't been riveted on yet but everything else is....no issues here.

Don