Riveted First Rib to Left Main Spar – 1 hr

Monday Sept 13, 2010

I didn’t have a lot of time in the shop tonight but even a little progress is OK sometimes. I received my order from Avery Tools today and it contained a pitot mast, pitot static installation kit, AOA line installation kit, and a bag of 10 Snap Socs. Here is what came in the box.

What’s weird is I order red 1/8 Snap Socs but Avery shipped green 5/32 Snap Socs. I wanted the 1/8 version to rivet the main ribs to the spars. I’ll call them tomorrow to find out what happened. In the mean time I wanted to proceed with riveting the main ribs to the front spar. I learned from other builders to start on the third rib from the inboard end and work toward the fuselage because the ribs are close together and face inward. You can easily bend the ribs out of the way of the rivet gun with the manufactured heads on the rib side. Then go back to rib four and work outboard.

So I shot the first set of rivets on rib 3 using a green Snap Soc. It may not fit the rivet perfectly but it seemed to help reduce the bounce of the rivet gun and I successfully drove all five rivets without a problem.

With the little extra time I had I checked the rest of the main ribs and tweaked straightness and flange perpendicularity in preparation for riveting them on in the next day or two (work schedule permitting).