Sindres RV-14A

Today the last rivet on the mid fuselage lower structure was set. Total time 74 hours + 4-5 hours riveting and etching help. All done😀 Quite many rivets on the skin, but with good help (wife) it went smooth. The holes on the blue tape and above will be set when the tail cone i joined.  Back riveting with my new long back rivet set ( Cleaveland ). It's easier with a long set to keep it perpendicular to the part. Some new tools and supplies arrived from Aircraft Spruce. Tank sealant (for next section), more etching fluid, park brake valve, wire stripper, thread sealant, tool (pliers) for clamp installation +++ This tools is for installation of washer in tight spots I attached the whole structure to a ramp. Worked out very well during rivet bucking. Sub-structures ready to be attached. As had to wait to get bucking help, I started on the section 27-Firewall.

Good progress on section 26. Every parts and skins is now primed and most of the structures are finished. Next now is to rivet everything together. Total time spent so far is 54 hours. Etching in progress with happy wife😁  First bunch of parts sprayed. Baggage ribs. Aft center section ribs. This is called Crotch Strap Assembly. Both Crotch Strap Assemblies completed. The outboard seat and baggage ribs has to be fluted because it's curved.  Quite easy as long as the instruction are followed (start in front). Start of section 26-07.  Section 26-07 to 26-09 completed. PS! It's important that the two out most ribs (F-01415) are clecoed correctly on the F-01404 bulkhead (inside of it). It might be difficult to fix later. This was something I read on another blog, and found that I had done it wrong initially. Peeling the plastic from the bottom skin. A broomstick works very well. I had the center bottom skin in...

Got started on section 26 this weekend. There seems to be a lot of parts, and I will not follow the instruction sequentially. It's better to prepare all parts and get them primed. It's good to have the instructions in PDF so I can search for the different parts number as start deburring. If they for example needs countersinking or match drilling, I'll do that at the same time as the deburring. Section 26 covers the area from the aft fuselage to the center section. That means baggage and seating area. Quite a lot of parts picked. Next is to remove the plastic. Working on separation and deburring of the small parts. The intentions is to the divide the priming into two. One with small parts and then all the ribs (20+). Just a lot of tedious work, but I hope all small parts should be ready for priming tomorrow. Then priming on Tuesday. 

Today section 25 was completed on approx 28 hours. All parts scuffed, cleaned and ready for priming. Finished. The aft bulkhead (F-01405A). Ready to rivet the side channels to the aft bulkhead. I almost made a mistake here as I initially had attached the bulkhead upside down. But I noticed because some rivets then would have been impossible to set. The bulkhead bar is bolted on. This is the aft bulkhead (F-01404) of the two center section bulkheads. And this is the forward center section bulkhead (F-01403). This is the area were the controls stick will be.