Elevator Spar Riveting?

[Av8torTom]

Anyone have any tips/suggestions for riveting the elevator spar top skin? Don't know why VANs faced the spar flanges forward.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[vlittle]

Anyone have any tips/suggestions for riveting the elevator spar top skin? Don't know why VANs faced the spar flanges forward.

Thanks,

Tom

Try this method to hold the skin open while you back-rivet the spar to the skin. Notice the long back-rivet bar under the skin.

Vern

 

[Av8torTom]

Thanks

Did you use an offset back rivet set???

 

[SmittysRV]

I did the majority of the rivets with Avery extra long yoke and hand squeezer, using the open ends and access holes in the middle of the elevator skin to get to the spar for riveting.

I still had the bucking with the wood spacers taped to it from the spar riveting on the right elevator. The wood spacers forced me to hold the bucking bar straight under the spar while I was "blind bucking".

 

[Av8torTom]

Thanks Smitty

I think I'll try the wood spacer, bucking bar approach... would have been so much easier if VAN had turned that spar around! - sheeesh...

 

[Av8torTom]

Update

OK, so I squeezed as many rivets as I could at the ends of the spar and at the hinge holes then I discovered that back riveting as Vern had suggested worked out pretty well. You have to be careful to hold the skin-spar assembly tightly against the back rivet plate - an extra set of hands helps for this.

Turned out pretty well - not perfect, but I gave up perfection on this project a LONG time ago