Here is a peek inside the structure. Once we get this forward spar assembly riveted, we'll be attaching the rear spar and we won't have access to this area any more. Everything is fitting nicely together, though we are going to be ordering some new bucking bars to do the job more effectively.
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Weekend of March 12th, 2005
This was such a great weekend. We started Saturday afternoon on the horizontal stabilizer again. Here we finally have the forward spar cleco'd in place and all the ribs in. This is the last time we'll see this space - it is about to be encased by the back spar. The first time we had the h.s. together was back in the Fall cleco'd together in our basement (see our earlier pictures). But after we final drilled, we had to take it all apart. Then we put it aside and started on the other parts of the tail section because we were going to wait to prime one big batch. It's so great to see this being put together again - except this time... it isn't coming back apart.
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Here are Shannon and I riveting the skin to the forward spar. After a few rivets, we finally got the hang of things and did very well as a team. I bucked while Shannon drove rivets with the gun. Another tip for all you builders just starting... masking tape works wonders if you wrap your bucking bar with it on the corners... saves you from scratching the primer.
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Finally!!!! Finished product on Sunday afternoon. We attached the rear spar and finished riveting everything. Now that we've completed this part, we also finally peeled the rest of the protective vinyl off the outside. As you can see, well worth the extra effort... we can see our reflections in the skin.
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It may seem a little goofy (especially to those of you who have already built your own RV), but we are very proud of our first (of many) assembled piece. I think now that we've gotten the hang of things, we're going to be moving right along. For instance, because we waited to assemble these subparts until we had a large batch for priming, we are all ready to put the verticle stabilizer together now. All the pieces are ready to be riveted together - so maybe we'll have another piece done next weekend too!
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I also decided to pose with our first finished piece, pretending like it was flying through the air.
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