Trouble w/ HS Nose Ribs

I am working on riveting the HS nose ribs in place. The end two ribs are obviously simple, but the middle one is giving me hell.

Any suggestions? Overall suggestions. My rivet heads don't seem to be bucking flush; trouble getting a bar down in there; etc.

I drilled out the entire middle nose rib, and will tackle it again in the morning. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Are you doing it solo?

My best suggestion is to get another set of hands to help - when I did the VS and HS on my -8 I had 2 people helping - one held things steady while the other bucked and I riveted. It went very smoothly - all of us novices and we drilled no rivets.

I'm sure you CAN do it alone (and many do) but it is far easier with more than one set of hands, especially if you're inexperienced. You just can't hold the skin steady, the bucking bar perpindicular and the rivet set flush all at the same time.

Thomas
-8 empennage (elevators)
wings on order

Gary--

I had exactly the same problem about 6 weeks ago. I got some great advice here and on Yahoo. Check this thread out below. I started the post, and then at the end, commented on how I incorporated a number of people's advice. Happy to say that it went much better the second time. So much better that I chose to redo one half of the HS over again--I knew I'd not like the looks of some ugly rivets on the leading edge of the HS for the rest of my life!

Let me know if this link doesn't work.

Steve

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=693

Also, Gary, if you have not already started on the other side, rivet the inboard main and nose rib combination before you try to put the skin on. The angle of the inboard-most ribs makes those rib-spar-spacer-rib rivets really tough to shoot. There is NO reason not to do them before putting the skin on. Do NOT follow Van's instructions in this regard.

Good luck

Steve

Thanks everyone. And Steve? Somehow I missed your original post on the subject; as I read it, it sounded EXACTLY like what I posted last night! Sorry to be redundant, since I missed the posts you initially made.

I appreciate the help of everyone. I'm just trying to salvage what I did yesterday, in an effort to not have to buy a new skin/nose rib.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I went from frustration (last night), to resolving my problems this morning. By the end of today, I had ALL riveting done in the HS, except for the rear spar-to-skin rivets. I was worn out (and my wife was tired of hearing the bucking of rivets @ 10:30 pm).

This riveting can be some fun stuff! Oh yeah, and also frustrating at times, too!

Thanks again.