HS Skin Riveting
I'm building an RV8, but your skeleton looks very similar (the 8 even uses some of the RV4 parts).
I think you can use the same riveting sequence for the skins, assuming you haven't riveted the ribs onto the spars yet. Obviously, this procedure was designed for the RV8 prepunched HS kit...so is provided as info to give you an idea of how the HS can be assembled using flush rivets.
Instructions assume that you've already final drilled your skins and have dimpled all skin to rib/spar holes. Spars are already assembled with stiffeners, hinge brackets, as required. In other words, all parts are ready for final assembly.
1. Rivet the inboard Nose Rib and Main Rib to the front spar assembly. These are the ribs closest to the fuselage. Rib flanges are riveted together with the spar using standard rivets on the RV8.
2. Lay the skin marked for the left side down on a clean, padded surface.
3. Carefully insert the middle nose rib; ensure that the flange is in the proper direction! Cleco every hole, then remove one cleco at a time and rivet the top of the rib to the top side of the skin using flush rivets. I was able to reach in with a small bucking bar and used the rivet gun with flush rivet set on the outside of the skin. A bucking partner would be helpful here, but is not required. I worked from the center of the skin toward the leading edge and had no problems-nice tight fit.
4. Cleco the tip rib (outboard rib) to the skin. Temporarily cleco the forward flange of the center main rib to the aft flange of the center nose rib. Note that the forward spar is not yet installed-this is just temporary! Cleco all to the skin. This will help hold the skin tight against the middle nose rib. The skin is a tight fit, so take your time to get the tip and mid ribs aligned with the rivet holes. Again, I clecoed every hole but one on the bottom of the center nose rib.
5. Now rivet the bottom of the middle nose rib to the bottom side of the skin (flush rivets). Working from the rear of the rib forward to the leading edge works well.
6. Remove the clecos holding the center main rib.
7. Install the forward spar and cleco the center main rib back in its proper position behind the spar. Use blind rivets to rivet the forward flange of the center main rib, forward spar, and aft flange of the middle nose rib together. (RV8 uses LP4-3 here; #30 hole using a long bit)
8. Rivet the outboard end of the front spar to the tip rib (RV8 uses AN470AD4-4 rivets here).
9. Rivet the front spar and the center main rib to the skin (top and bottom) using flush rivets. Work your way from the center of the skin to the tip rib, then come back and rivet the center main rib from the center of the skin working aft. Flip the HS and repeat.
10. Repeat the above steps for the right side of the HS, then cleco on the rear spar.
11. Rivet the rear spar, tip ribs, inboard nose ribs and inboard main ribs to the skin using flush rivets. All of these can be reached with a squeezer.
12. Blind rivet the aft flange of the main rib to the rear spar (RV8 uses BSPQ-5-4 rivet here, #21 hole).
Hope this helps-I did a practice assembly using this sequence out before riveting and it helped me visualize the steps.
Regards,
Mike
